Godebert M. Reiss

Godebert Michael Reiss (born March 1, 1937 in Rheinhausen / Niederrhein, near Duisburg ) is a German antiquarian and book auctioneer . From 1970 to 2016 he was the owner of his own book auction house.

Life

After graduating from high school in 1957 and studying history and classical philology, he began a traineeship in the antiquarian department of the bookstore Stern Verlag Janssen & Co. in Düsseldorf in 1960 , and took over its management after two years. From 1966 to 1970 he was co-owner of the Braunschweig book auction house Wolfgang Brandes. In 1970/71 he founded the auction house Godebert M. Reiss in Mainz, and from 1975 Reiss & Auvermann in Glashütten / Taunus . In 1989 he separated from his partner Detlev Auvermann and moved to Königstein / Taunus . From 1995 he owned Reiss and Son with his son Clemens Reiss (* 1964) as a partner. In 2016 he handed over to his son and left the company.

The auction of large collections such as Brito (discovery literature since the 15th century), the library of the Counts of Schönborn-Buchheim, the Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek in Donaueschingen or the library of the industrialist Hans L. Merkle made the company one of the world's largest noted book auction houses.

From 1976 to 1979 and 1986 to 1989, Reiss was chairman of the board of the Association of German Antiquaries (VdA). From 1991 to 1992 he was Vice President of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).

Publications (selection)

• Of books and book fools. Memories of an antiquarian . Edition Vincent Klink, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-927350-55-7 .
• 50 white elephants. Old books and maps that moved my world. Verlag Bramann, Frankfurt 2018, ISBN 978-3-95903-000-7

Web links

• Association of German Antiquarian Shops, former chairperson (with picture)
• The master of the books . In: Frankfurter Rundschau April 27, 2017
• Reiss & Sohn, book and art antiquarian