Visiting Jack Matthews (Photo Essay)

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Jack Matthews in Athens, Ohio. Thrilling!

Details of the visit will appear occasionally on this blog. For now here are some photos which I took during my visit.

This is Jack Matthews in front of his writing desk Click to see more.

In his living room Jack Matthews showed me a book that was published in 1488; the Gutenberg Press only was started near 1440!

For an even higher quality image, go here. Note that the red letters were added by hand for embellishment.

Here’s a photo of Jack Matthews and Barbara, his wife of 63 years who has accompanied him on countless book collecting junkets:

Jack Matthews used to own an old saloon which he used to store his collectible books. He has since sold it, so the books he keeps close to him seem extra special:

Here’s a  bookshelf devoted only to books about book publishing (Click here for a close-up to see titles).

Here’s some of his early editions of Mark Twain books.  (Click here for a closeup).

Here’s an external view of their house in Athens, Ohio. Although it is fairly isolated on a country road, the house is only a few minutes from Ohio University.