During the duration of our course, we were provided with the privilege of visiting Eric Holzenberg’s (Director of the Grolier Club) home and experiencing his rare antique and book collection up close. His apartment hosted an array of vintage furniture, rare collectible items and graphic arts which were organized decoratively around his front from.

Holzenburg was both warming and inviting, enthusiastic about his collection and was eager to share his passion for graphic art that he developed from a young age. Unlike the other rare book schools and special collection archives that we had visited, Holzenburg’s inclusion of a variety of furniture that he was able to integrate into the interior design of his home was what made this experience stand out from the rest. Each item held its own story and background as to why he chose to buy it and what significance it had in relation to the rest of his collection.

His possessions were heavily focused on the aesthetic movement and sported books that consisted of lavish graphic art designs that also had influences from 19th-century Japanese art.  It wasn’t necessarily the content of the books that were of a particular concern to him, as he wasted no time in explaining how a certain wallpaper design book that he possessed contained pieces that drew great inspirations from the designs of William Morris. He spoke about his great interest in obtaining catalogs and the items that were displayed within them. I drew particular interest into a very intricate and detailed tea set that he bought which was a catalog item. It was humorous to discover in fact that he received the items before he received the catalogs from which they were presented in.

Holzenburg revealed that he would obtain the components of his growing collection from a range of sources such as traditional auctions, used bookstores, antiquarian book fares, antique shows and most surprisingly eBay. He’d been in the process of collecting books and decorative arts for about decade and when asked whether he still had room for more items his response was pretty much affirmative.

Most importantly, I believe I am not the only person who appreciated the company of his playful felines that gracefully prowled the front room. Holzenburg even reassured us that they posed little to no threat to his collection when asked if they had broken anything.