Warren R. Howell devoted his life to the antiquarian book trade, joining his father's downtown San Francisco business, John Howell--Books (also known as The Open Book Shop) in 1932. Except for three years spent in the armed services during World War II, he worked in the book trade without break until his death in 1984 at the age of seventy-one. His long and distinguished career was characterized by expertise in fine and rare books in all fields, meticulous research and description, restraint in pricing, and sound disinterested advice to collectors and librarians. He held to a standard of antiquarian bookselling more typical of the first half of the century than the second. He was instrumental in the formation and growth of many of the major private and institutional collections of his time and was gifted in transmitting his enthusiasm for great books to others, among them several collectors who purchased...