Annual Christmas Luncheon and Meeting
On December 7th, members and guests of the Book Club of Detroit met at the historic Longacre House in Farmington Hills for our annual holiday luncheon and meeting. Our featured speaker was BCD member George Hagenauer, famed as the “Comic Book Wizard of Ypsilanti” and as a well-known collector of illustration art. George’s topic was “Collecting the Art for the Books You Love.”
Collecting illustration art allows collectors to experience a new dimension of books and the printed page, George explained. Here is Milo Winter’s 1916 watercolor frontispiece for a copy of Treasure Island that George read as a child. George now owns this artwork, which he spotted in the window of a Chicago book shop.
George’s acquisitions include art from science fiction, such as this illustration from Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wind in the Door.
George began collecting books at a very young age, starting with boys’ adventure series when he was eight years old. He quickly graduated to science fiction, paperbacks, and comic books. He realized that he could have art on his wall that related to his books. George advised that, while collecting art can be an expensive hobby, illustration art is often very affordable. For those interested in late 20th century to current art, it may be best to contact the artists directly, George suggested.
BCD honored two longtime BCD board members and officers, Treasurer Maurice Barie and Vice-President C. Hedger Breed. Both stepped down in 2024 after many years of service to BCD. Maurice, a board game enthusiast and collector, received a poster from the drama series, The Queen’s Gambit, as a token of the Club’s appreciation.
Hedger, proprietor of White Raven Books, received a “rare bird”: A stained-glass white raven, presented by BCD President Marcia McBrien.
The ever-popular silent auction was a high point of the annual meeting.