Jonathan A. Hill on the importance of bookseller catalogues

The son of prominent book collector Kenneth E. Hill, Jonathan A. Hill grew up in a house filled with old books.  After graduating from university in 1974 he served a classic apprenticeship, working for four leading antiquarian booksellers in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. In 1978 he started his own company and has specialized in science, medicine, natural history, bibliography and the history of book collecting, and early printed books.

For the past 20 years he has, partnering with his wife Megumi, also sold antiquarian Japanese, Chinese, and Korean illustrated books, manuscripts, and scrolls. 

During the past 43 years the company has issued more than 230 catalogues devoted to these various subjects.  

It is thanks to them that I contacted Jonathan. We talk here about his (and Jerry Kelly's) impressive work, and about bookseller catalogues in general.