An interview with Graham Arader

Photograph by Ben Hoffmann

ForbesLife Magazine conducted an insightful interview with Graham Arader about his 40-plus years of experience in the map and rare book world. Beginning with a tour of the Rare Books Vault located in the New York Gallery, Mr. Arader presents an inside view into his world of collecting and dealing rare maps, books and prints and discusses those in his profession who have taken their love for rare maps too far.

"Maps combine art, power, psychology, history, commerce, and fantasy" states Mr. Arader from his gallery at 29th East 72nd Street in New York City. Mr. Arader began his business while in college at Yale. He was captain of the squash team and all–Ivy League for three years--but his life changed when he met Alexander Orr Vietor, the curator of Yale's map collection. "I am the only guy in history who used Yale as a trade school," Arader says. "Mr. Vietor let me use his personal reference library and taught me the standards of collecting. I sold $100,000 in maps my senior year in college.”

With an extensive collection of maps, globes, natural history and botanical prints and great love of history, Mr. Arader has amassed an inventory of over $600 million, spread throughout his five galleries nation-wide. He has also seen first hand the underside of the dealing world and has worked with the FBI and government agencies to capture and convict map and rare book thieves.

With no plans of stopping anytime soon, Mr. Arader continues to collect, deal and make charitable contributions to schools and organizations, hoping to entice and educate the public about these rare and fascinating pieces of history. As he dutifully states, “They tell history in a way you can't get in any other art form.”

To read the full interview, please visit: ForbesLife Magazine