Bromer, Anne C. (Anne Bromer)

PERSONAL:

Married David Bromer (a rare book dealer). Education: Simmons College, M.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Boston, MA. Office—Bromer Booksellers, 607 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116.

CAREER:

Bromer Booksellers, Boston, MA, rare book dealer, 1968—.

MEMBER:

Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America.

WRITINGS:

(With husband, David Bromer) 35 Miniature Books in Designer Bindings, photography by Bruce Hilliard, A. & D. Bromer/Nimrod Press (Boston, MA), 1987.

Strings Attached: Dorothy Abbe, Her Work and Wad, Boston Public Library and the Society of Printers (Boston, MA), 2001.

(With Julian I. Edison) Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures, Abrams (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Anne C. Bromer was a student at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1964, studying library science, when she had the opportunity to visit the Library at Williams College as a field trip with her rare books class. The collection of rare books housed at Williams is considered to be the best of those at any undergraduate school, and her husband, David, who was working in scientific research at the time, accompanied the class as a guest. Anne's professor, Richard Archer, was also curator of the Chaplin Library's rare book department, and he was in charge of unlocking the various manuscripts and allowing the students a closer look. Once Anne found herself communing with the miraculous old texts, she was entranced by the rare book business. Bromer Booksellers was founded, and within four years had issued their first catalog. In 1974 Anne joined the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, and devoted herself to Bromer Booksellers on a full-time basis. Within two years, David had done the same. The store specializes in a number of areas, but both Bromers have a particular interest in collections of miniature books.

35 Miniature Books in Designer Bindings, which Bromer and her husband wrote and published in 1987, mines this interest in miniature books and shares it with readers. Bromer went on to write Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures with Julian I. Edison, a noted expert on small books and the editor of Miniature Book News. The book was intended as a companion volume to a traveling collection of miniatures, and was itself published in a style that was designed to appeal to rare book collectors, complete with gilt-edged pages. Bromer and Edison include a thorough history of the subject of miniature books, along with more than 250 color photographs of some of the works in the exhibit and, in most cases, offering life-size renditions of the books for comparison. They also discuss the logistics of creating the books, including the manufacturing of the paper and bindings. The books themselves cover a wide range of topics, from works for children to religious volumes to Shakespearian plays. A reviewer for Internet Bookwatch found Bromer and Edison's effort to be "a work of impressive scholarship and research," as well as "a bibliophile's treat." A Publishers Weekly contributor who reviewed the work wrote that the "delightful book is a feast for the eye."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Internet Bookwatch, June, 2007, review of Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures.

Library Journal, July 1, 2007, Mark Woodhouse, review of Miniature Books, p. 88.

New York Times Book Review, June 3, 2007, Steven Heller, "Visuals," p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2007, review of Miniature Books, p. 45.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2007, review of Miniature Books.

ONLINE

Abe Books,http://www.abebooks.com/ (February 8, 2008), Scott Laming, "Bromer Books: Exquisite Things Come in Miniature Packages."

Bromer Booksellers Home Page,http://www.bromer.com (February 8, 2008).

Wicked Local,http://www.wickedlocal.com/ (July 13, 2007), Kristin D'Agostino, "Shrunken Treasures: Publisher to Share Miniature Books at Salem Athenaeum."