12 Facts About Gabriel Wells

Gabriel Wells was a noted bookseller, historian and author.

Gabriel Wells was one of the most important antiquarian booksellers in America and Britain in the first half of the twentieth century.

Gabriel Wells was president of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association in 1930.

Gabriel Wells was born Gabor Weiss in Balassa-Gyarmath, Hungary; his father was Moritz Weiss and he was one of six children.

Gabriel changed his surname to Wells after immigrating to the United States in 1894, settling in Boston.

Gabriel Wells tutored in psychology and German language under William James, professor of psychology at Harvard, for three years, and lectured on philosophy at conferences in New York and Massachusetts around the turn of the century.

Gabriel Wells was involved in a long-running rivalry with Rosenbach, who tended to get the limelight for buying the most expensive item at an auction which he then sold on direct to the public.

Gabriel Wells spent more overall, but invested in less high-profile books that he often passed on through the trade.

In 1922 Gabriel Wells paid $200,000 for the right to print a limited run of the definitive edition of Mark Twain's writings.

One of the most significant transactions of Gabriel Wells' career was his purchase of a Gutenberg Bible from Joseph Sabin, who had bought it at auction in 1920.

Gabriel Wells opted to break up the Bible and sell the leaves individually, thus reaching a wider market.

In 1939, Gabriel Wells was embroiled in legal action after John Hayward discovered that Lord Victor Rothschild's first edition of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones was not authentic.