Justin Galland Schiller (born September 10, 1943) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

bookseller specializing in rare and collectible

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

; proprietor during his student days under his own name (1960–69), then Justin G. Schiller, Ltd. (1969–2020). Headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, it was the oldest specialist firm in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, focusing on historical and collectible children's books, related original art, and manuscripts. 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 Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

Early life

Justin Galland Schiller was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, on September 10, 1943, to Samuel Gary Schiller and Constance Audrey Galland where he attended Public School 236 and Samuel J Tilden High School. As an eight-year-old boy he started collecting '' Wizard of Oz'' books by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

, lending parts of his collection to the author's centennial exhibition at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

’s

Butler Library Butler Library is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University at 535 West 114th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. It is the university's largest single library with over 2 million volumes, as well as one of the largest bui ...

in 1956. At age of 13, Schiller founded the Wizard of Oz Fan Club, afterwards renamed The International Wizard of Oz Club, appointing

Frank Joslyn Baum Frank Joslyn Baum (December 3, 1883 – December 2, 1958) was an American lawyer, soldier, writer, and film producer, and the first president of The International Wizard of Oz Club. He is best known as the author of ''To Please a Child'' (a b ...

its honorary president. On the November 3, 1956, television debut of the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

''Wizard of Oz'' film, host Bert Lahr appeared with 10-year old

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

and 13 year-old Schiller, introducing the movie by reading from Schiller's copy of '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' first edition (1900). 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.

Career

Schiller received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

in 1965 (Honors in English Renaissance Literature). He attended the International Symposium at the

Shakespeare Institute The Shakespeare Institute is a centre for postgraduate study dedicated to the study of William Shakespeare and the literature of the English Renaissance. It is part of the University of Birmingham, and is located in Stratford-upon-Avon. The Insti ...

at Birmingham University in 1964, and completed a graduate studies/teaching fellowship at Harpur College, SUNY Binghamton, in 1966. 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. His first specialty catalogue on collectible children's books came out that year. He was also a member of the

Antiquarian Booksellers Association The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (ABA) is the senior trade body in the British Isles for dealers in antiquarian and rare books, manuscripts and allied materials. The ABA organises a number of book fairs every year including its flagship f ...

'' ''(UK) from 1969 to 1989, and joined the

Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest learned society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Established in 1904, the society promotes bibliographical research and issues bibliograp ...

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 The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...

since 1982. Schiller was a member of the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie from 1983 to 2012; and the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

since 1984. He served on the Lenox Society Steering Committee for Rare Books & Manuscripts at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

from 1986 to 2000, and the

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

Foundation board of directors from 1988 to 1995. 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. Schiller has acted as advisor and dealer for some of the major private and institutional collections of early children's books in the world, including the Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection now at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

’s

Beinecke Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...

, the Lloyd E. Cotsen Collection of Children’s Books now at Princeton University's Firestone Library, and the Peter J. Solomon Collection now at the Houghton Library,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, among others. 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 and exhibitions of what he assembled: * ''L Frank Baum and related Oziana'',

Swann Galleries Swann Galleries is a New York City auction house founded in 1941. It is a specialist auctioneer of antique and rare works on paper, and it is considered the oldest continually operating New York specialist auction house. The company has separat ...

NY sale 1118 (2 November 1978) * ''Lewis Carroll and Alice,''

Christie’s Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

NY sale 9046, 9 December 1998 * ''The Treasure of Siam'', Christie’s

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

sale 9991, 7 August 1999 * ''Dutch Modernism … Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco 1880-1930'', Sotheby’s

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

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 * ''The Art of Maurice Sendak'' at the Society of Illustrators NY, 2013 * ''Quotations of Chairman Mao 1964-2014 (The Little Red Book,'' 50th anniversary),

NY 2014 * ''“Once Upon A Time”,'' the inventory of Justin G Schiller Ltd,

Heritage Auctions Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, mu ...

(

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

) sale 6234, 16 December 2020

Publications

* "L Frank Baum and his Teen-Age Serials: a Bibliographical Checklist", ''Boys' Book Collector'' II:3 (Spring 1971) * "Collecting Children's Literature", ''American Book Collector'', Summer 1972 * "Memoirs of an Antiquarian Bookseller", ''

Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

'', October 1973 * "Artistic Awareness in Early Children's Books", ''Children's Literature: The Great Excluded,'' Volume III, 1974 (

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach t ...

) * "Magazines for Young America: the First Hundred Years of Juvenile Periodicals", ''Columbia Library Columns'' XXIII:3 (May 1974),

* "The Publication of '' Little Black Sambo''", ''

The Book Collector ''The Book Collector'' is a London based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage ...

'', Summer 1974 * "Collecting American Juveniles" (Chapter 4), in Jack Tannen's ''How To Identify And Collect American First Editions: A Guide Book'' (New York: Arco, 1976) * "Early Children's Books at the

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th ...

", ''American Book Collector'', 1976 * "Collecting Historical Children's Books", ''Art At Auction'' (

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

), 1976–77 * "Animated Picture Books to 1900", Children's Books International 2,

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

, 1977 * ''Classics in Children's Literature'', 73 volumes co-edited with

Alison Lurie Alison Stewart Lurie (September 3, 1926December 3, 2020) was an American novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel '' Foreign Affairs''. Although better known as a novelist, she wrote many non-fiction boo ...

(Garland, 1977) * "Notes on an Antiquarian Children's Bookshop", ''Horn Book Magazine'', April 1977 * Introductions to

Lothar Meggendorfer Lothar Meggendorfer (6 November 1847 in Munich – 7 July 1925 in Munich) was a German illustrator and early cartoonist known for his pop-up books. He was first published in 1862 in the ''Fliegende Blätter'', an illustrated comic weekly, and fro ...

's mechanical toybooks ''Doll's House'' (1978), ''International Circus'' (1979), &c,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York (Intervisual Communications) * ''L Frank Baum and related Oziana'', The Schiller Collection,

, 1978 * "The Osborne Collection: An Appreciation", ''A Token for Friends'', Toronto Public Library, 1979 * "Appraising Historical Children's Books", '' AB Bookman's Yearbook 1984'' * Introduction for

Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving and smal ...

's illustrated version of '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by

L Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

, Pennyroyal Press, 1985 (reprinted,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1986) * Introduction for ''Youthful Recreations.'' Dallas TX: The Somesuch Press nowiki/>Stanley Marcus">Stanley_Marcus.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Stanley Marcus">nowiki/>Stanley Marcus 1986 * Nonsense Books bibliography, ''Edward Lear 1812 - 1886'', Royal Academy of Arts, 1985 * ''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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Book World XIX:20 (14 May 1989), pp. 1 + 22 * '' 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 * "Collectible Children's Books: An Introduction", ''Rare & Collectible Children's Books,''

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

(Japan): Maruzen Co., 1990 * "Works by Beatrix Potter", The Guennol Collection, Vol III,

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

1991 * ''Sendak in Asia''. Tokyo exhibition catalogue (1996) featuring original artwork by

* "Journeying to the World of Beatrix Potter", ''Christie's International Magazine'' (London), April 1997 * "Once Upon A Time, the early years of

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

'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.'' loomingtonFriends of the

Lilly Library The Lilly Library, located on the campus of Indiana University (Bloomington), Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is an important rare book and manuscript library in the United States. At its dedication on October 3, 1960, the library co ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, 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 Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

: Book Arts Press, Univ. of Virginia, September 2002 * "Maurice Sendak All Around", ''Horn Book Magazine'' Special Sendak issue, November/December 2003 * “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 New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

: 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 * ''Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work''. Abrams 2013, Society of Illustrators exhibition * ''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

Documentary film and television appearances

* '' The Booksellers'' (2019) * ''

Murder Among the Mormons ''Murder Among the Mormons'' is an American true crime documentary television miniseries following Mark Hofmann, one of the most notable forgers in history, who created forgeries related to the Latter Day Saint movement. Joe Berlinger serves as ...

'' (2021)

Personal life

Schiller currently lives in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

, with his spouse Dennis M V David (together since February 1981, married 27 July 2011), 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 Rondout may refer to some places and buildings in the United States: In Illinois: * Rondout, Illinois In New York: *Rondout, New York, a village located on the north side of Rondout Creek near its mouth on the Hudson River in Ulster County *Rondou ...

References

External links

Chinese TV (SinaTV)

Voice of America

YouTube (ABAA)
*

'
''Print'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiller, Justin G. American booksellers American antiquarians People from Brooklyn American book and manuscript collectors American art dealers Ithaca College alumni American bibliographers 1943 births Living people Historians from New York (state)