Bookseller, Justin G Schiller Ltd and Battledore Ltd
Known for
Antiquarian children’s books and related art; writer, lecturer, and collector
Justin Galland Schiller (born September 10, 1943) is an Americanbookseller specializing in rare and collectible children's books;[1] proprietor during his student days under his own name (1960–69), then Justin G. Schiller, Ltd. (1969–2020). Headquartered in New York City, it was the oldest specialist firm in the United States, focusing on historical and collectible children's books, related original art, and manuscripts.[2] In 1988, he formed a second corporation—Battledore Ltd, with his partner and spouse Dennis M V David, to further specialize in original children's book illustration art and the legacy of Maurice Sendak.[3][4]
Early life
A thirteen-year-old Schiller (right) at Columbia University in 1956 for the centennial exhibition of L. Frank Baum.
And as an expert in all things Ozian, Justin appeared in an early episode of the television game show To Tell The Truth (1972) where guest celebrities had to identify him amidst two impostors.[11]
Schiller's first antiquarian books catalogue was issued in 1960; he was elected to the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America in February 1967 (member of the Board of Governors, Class of 1976), where he remains a member.[12] His first specialty catalogue on collectible children's books came out that year. He was also a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association(UK) from 1969 to 1989, and joined the Bibliographical Society of America in 1969, where he's still a member (Council, 2001–2007). He served as chairman on the Antiquarian Booksellers Center board of directors from 1973 to 1976; he has been a member of the Grolier Club since 1982. Schiller was a member of the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie from 1983 to 2012; and the American Antiquarian Society since 1984. He served on the Lenox Society Steering Committee for Rare Books & Manuscripts at the New York Public Library from 1986 to 2000, and the Lewis Carroll Foundation board of directors from 1988 to 1995.[13]
Schiller works to promote awareness in early children's books, writing articles on various authors, artists, genres and collectibles, including reports and annual analyses of the antiquarian children's book field, and annual auction summaries and book reviews in trade journals including AB Bookman’s Weekly, where he contributed from 1971 to 1989.[14]
His legacy extends to two fellowships with the American Antiquarian Society and the Bibliographical Society of America devoted to promoting scholarship in early children’s literature research prior to 1901. The Justin G. Schiller Fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society supports research by both doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars from any disciplinary perspective on the production, distribution, literary content, or historical context of American children's books to 1876.
Collections
As an early collector, Schiller formed numerous major collections which resulted in single-owner auctions[15] and exhibitions of what he assembled:
L Frank Baum and related Oziana, Swann Galleries NY sale 1118 (2 November 1978)[16]
Lewis Carroll and Alice,Christie’s NY sale 9046, 9 December 1998[14]
The Treasure of Siam, Christie’s Bangkok sale 9991, 7 August 1999
Dutch Modernism … Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco 1880-1930, Sotheby’sAmsterdam Sale 1047, 5 February 2008
Vintage Chinese Posters 1939-1990, Bloomsbury London sale 583, 21 September 2006
Red China 1921-1976, Bloomsbury sale 35982, London 4 October 2012
Nonsensus: Cross-referencing Edward Lear's original 116 limericks with eight holograph manuscripts and their printed texts, Catalpa Press, 1988
"Illustrated American Children's Books", A Child's Garden of Dreams, Brandywine River Museum, 1989
"One Collector's Progress", The Washington Post, Book World XIX:20 (14 May 1989), pp. 1 + 22[1]
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, An 1865 Printing re-described. With a revised and expanded Census of the Suppressed 1865 "Alice" ... to which is added a short-title index identifying and locating the original preliminary drawings by John Tenniel for Alice and Looking-Glass, privately printed 1990[13]
Sendak in Asia. Tokyo exhibition catalogue (1996) featuring original artwork by Maurice Sendak[3]
"Journeying to the World of Beatrix Potter", Christie's International Magazine (London), April 1997
"Once Upon A Time, the early years of Charles Perrault's Fairy Tales", Biblio magazine, December 1997. (pp. 28–33)
"Paul Bunyan, the making of an American Myth", Biblio magazine, March 1998
"Appraising Collectible Children's Books", Building A Special Collection of Children's Literature in your Library,American Library Assoc. (1998)
Digging for Treasure: An adventure in appraising rare and collectible children's books. [Bloomington] Friends of the Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1998. Illustrated version of a 1997 lecture
"Welcome to the Land of Oz", Antiquarian Book Review XXIX:6 (issue 330), July 2002, pp. 32–37
Pioneering Collectible Children's Books: the First One Hundred Years, the Ninth Sol. M. Malkin Lecture in Bibliography. Charlottesville: Book Arts Press, Univ. of Virginia, September 2002[12]
"Maurice Sendak All Around", Horn Book Magazine Special Sendak issue, November/December 2003[3]
“The Tale of Beatrix Potter”, Rare Book Review (cover story, pp 14–18), December 2006/January 2007
“Fifty Years of the Oz Club”, The Baum Bugle vol. LI:2 (pp. 7–9), Autumn 2007
“A Note on Betsy Beinecke Shirley”, Drawn To Enchant (New Haven: Beinecke Rare Books Library, 2007); see also American Antiquarian Society Proceedings: obituary, v.113:2, pp 242–247 (Worcester 2005) and Grolier Club Member memorials in the Gazette of the Grolier Club (issue LXX, 2020, 132–136)
“Martin Gardner: A Personal Reminiscence” in Bouquet For The Gardener. Lewis Carroll Society N.A., 2011[9]
Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work. Abrams 2013, Society of Illustrators exhibition[20]
Quotations of Chairman Mao 1964-2014, a Short Bibliographical Study. New York: Grolier Club, 2014
Radiant with Color and Art: McLoughlin Brothers and the Business of Picture Books, 1858–1920, The Grolier Club
Sendak and Blake illustrating “Songs of Innocence”.Kingston NY: Battledore Ltd, 2018
Schiller currently lives in Kingston, New York, with his spouse Dennis M V David (together since February 1981, married 27 July 2011),[23] in a Victorian house built for George Coykendall (he managed the Kingston city trolley system for the Coykendall family), above the historic district of Rondout.
^ abPioneering Collectible Children's Books: the First One Hundred Years - the Ninth Sol. M. Malkin Lecture in Bibliography. Book Arts Press, University of Virginia. 2002.
