Yesterday's NYTimes included an obituary of Pierre Berès, which describes him as "the king of French booksellers, recounts some famous incidents from Berès' long career (including one in which he "advertised in his own catalog some choice specimens that happened to belong to a competitor. When a client expressed interest, Mr. Berès told him to wait while he fetched the required volumes from his warehouse. Instead he raced to his competitor’s shop, bought the books and resold them.") and adds some fascinating personal details ("Wrapped in a red shawl, often with a Siamese cat perched on one shoulder, he would turn up at magnificent chateaus, talk his way inside and emerge with treasure.").
And today's Times features a massive obit for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who died in Moscow yesterday at 89.
