Auctions | June 21, 2012

Bonhams Will Conduct Bidder Tours of Serendipity Books Warehouse

Los Angeles - Bonhams will be conducting tours of the famed Serendipity Warehouse in Berkeley, CA, and accepting bids on the contents through July 16th.  To make an appointment to view the warehouse, please contact Adam Stackhouse at 415- 503-3266.  

Additional property from Serendipity Books will be featured at Bonhams throughout the summer of 2012, including:
??    Russian, Baseball and Modern Literature on June 19 in the New York Fine Books and Manuscripts auction;
??    A large collection of screenplays on June 24 in the Los Angeles Entertainment Memorabilia auction;
??    A large collection of art and fine press books on July 15 in the Los Angeles Period Art & Design auction;
??    Approximately 500 multi-volume lots of books in the Shelf Sale on June 26, available for viewing onsite at the Berkeley store June 22-25 and selling through our online bidding platform only.

About Peter Howard
Peter Howard [1939-2011] of the landmark Bay Area Serendipity Books has been eulogized as “one of the most imaginative booksellers of his generation.”  Howard stocked not only individual titles but entire collections.  The store was organized in sections by the original source: a collection of modern poetry from collector X is in one corner; another collection with similar titles from another source might be on the opposite side of the building.  It wasn’t a library and so, to Howard’s mind, it wasn’t supposed to be organized like one.

The bookstore on University, for those who never crossed its threshold, was a warren of rooms filled to the roof with titles from the mundane and popular to the erudite and obscure.  Howard wanted people to search for their books, looking carefully and hopefully finding not only what they were looking for, but far more.