Adoring Antiquarian: The Love That Drives the Chase of Rare Books
Sonny Ideker was a pilot. He served in the U.S. Airforce for 20 years before going on to work on a major U.S. airline. When Ideker began making frequent trips to Europe — sometimes more than 40 trips a year — his wife asked him to explore some antiquarian bookshops on her behalf and return with his findings. Ideker, who is dyslexic and never had any particular interest in books, fulfilled his wife’s wishes and began hunting down rare books while he was abroad. Thus began a new life passion that has brought him where he is today.
Perhaps one of the most intricate, most expensive, and most global of professions is the collection of rare books. It is an avocation that takes Atlanta book dealers from Brasília to Brighton, handling inventory that sometimes has to be secured inside metal appliances and transported in a moving van. A 2018 article by Fortune looked at the value of rare books — a combination of condition, edition, and if there are any inscriptions.
But it seems that Atlanta book collectors didn’t begin this avocation for the money, but by stumbling down various avenues, chasing something just as valuable — uncovering new life and new love.
Tucked in the center of Carrollton, inside a building that appears to sink into the sidewalk, is a literary oasis. The cool, dark space is filled eclectic collection of new, used and rare books that serves as an attractive destination for readers across Georgia. This is where Megan Bell met Josh Niesse, when Bell “walked in [the shop], fell down the rabbit hole, and never left,” as described in the shop’s book catalog. It was the remarkable kind of meeting that changes everything, as though the players might have slipped into a narrative themselves.
The shop, appropriately named Underground Books, is now co-run by Bell and Niesse, who married in 2014. For the past 11 years, Bell and Niesse have passionately supported the shop and its sister store, Hamlets Bookshop, while inching toward a new side of the market: rare books. At the end of March, Underground Books launched “The Fairy-Land of Science,” a new catalog of rare books focusing on the Victorian relationship between magic and the natural world.
The products in the catalog are plentiful, but they are also in high demand — a quick flip through proves that most of the items have already been purchased, even though the first issue of the catalog was published merely a month ago. “The greatest satisfaction I’ve received from this experience has been in feeling I’ve ‘added value’ to [these books] by trying to raise their profile among collectors,” says Bell.
Each book contributes to a compendium of fairy tales and mystical musings about reality, many of which feel as though they belong in a parallel universe rather than another time period. But they also add to the growing collection of Underground Books, and they expand the impact of Bell and Niesse’s business. Bell confirms that there is a number of ways — some more unexpected than others — to fall into this world. “There are a myriad of paths into rare book collecting, one unique to every collector — and a whole lot of booksellers, fellow collectors, and book lovers ready to share and support your journey along the way!”
Bell’s and Ideker’s professional journeys share some similarities, although Ideker’s began on the other side of the Atlantic.
At his storefront in Roswell, Ideker was fast to demonstrate how to safely remove a book from its shelf so that customers could eventually ignore the “Please Do Not Handle” signs. But even as he delicately flipped through his inventory — taking time to prop up the front cover of each book with another book, so as not to break their spines — he was adamant that selling books is not the point.
“It’s an entirely different world. The people are so good. I don’t mean they’re all friendly — you’ll meet some you’ll disagree with politically, and some are very reserved — but they’re all good people… that’s what I love about it.”
This network of bookselling isn’t exclusive — Ideker has helped collectors obtain all kinds of products, from contemporary graphic novels to ancient Bibles. This is part of what makes Ideker feel at home in this world, as it resembles the supportive, close-knit community in which he was raised. Within a matter of minutes, Ideker had beckoned two more shopgoers into the conversation: a man researching for his Ph.D. and a young woman who said she had “no idea” what she was looking for. Even in the corner of an antique store in Roswell, Ideker was tending to his ever-growing community, and there was room for everyone.
Kipp Mathis, a bookseller at Atlanta Vintage Books, says that most of the rare books he encounters come from donations made after a loved one has passed. “It’s just unique when it comes to collectibles,” says Mathis. “There’s more sentimentality involved.” Although it can be difficult to let go of once-cherished items, Mathias believes that each book gets a sort of “second chance” when it’s repurposed by a new reader.
Antiquarian treasures often sneak into our lives with the thrill and potential of new love — exceptional from the start, and valuable beyond measure.
