The library in Russ and Ora Hollebon’s home in East End tells the story of a lifelong passion for books and travel.
Russ began collecting books at 8-years-old and now has more than 4,000 on his shelves.
“I enjoy having a wide selection of mostly hand-picked books on subjects that interest me,” he says.
Lined with 10-foot floor-to-ceiling, mahogany-stained and termite-resistant bookcases, the library has one-foot-thick adjustable shelves crammed with books.
“Even browsing the bookcases to select ‘the next one’ to read is a little exciting to me,” says Russ.
“My favourite books are histories, especially ancient, and of various countries we have visited, or plan to visit, or where current events such as the Ukraine war, fall of communism, etc. have occurred, or are occurring. I also have a large selection on world literature and the classics.”
DIGITAL DATABASE
All items are on a digital database and can be quickly located by title, author and some also by publisher.
“I find it fascinating how they are organised… just give him a subject and, electronically, he can identify where they are,” says Ora.
There is also inventive labelling above the bookshelves, categorising the various volumes.
“Subject matter is identified by a variety of brass nameplates and/or subject indicators, such as a ‘dreamcatcher’ above the American Indian shelf, repo ancient Greek-warriors plate above the ancient history section, a sword and a repo Arab tribal rifle above the military section, etc.,” Russ explains.
Shelves are accessed by two oak ladders built by the Putnam Ladder Co. of New York.
TRAVEL MEMENTOS
The library is also testament to the Hollebons’ international travels, with carvings, antiques and objets d’art adorning the room.
For example, there are three large windows and a sliding glass door leading to a secluded ‘reading porch’ facing the Queens Highway.
These glass doors have an interior sliding carved-wood screen of the Thai zodiac, and the windows have interior carved wooden shutters from Thailand and Haiti. As a result, the room can be made dark when watching TV.
Furthermore, the entrance to the library is through an 8-foot Haitian mahogany carved ‘lion’ double door hung with eight heavy antique hinges and featuring lion-faced solid brass doorknobs.
“The doors are topped with a carved panel from India of Lord Ganesaya, God of initiative, intellect and remover of obstacles,” says Russ.
Inside the room is a pair of carved antique Thai pivot doors which serve as decorative panels.
OTHER EXOTIC TOUCHES
The entrance to the library is illuminated by brass floor lamps – ‘the hunters’ – from Thailand, while a limited edition (number 126 of 500) illuminated world globe, greets the entrants.
Inside, lighting consists of three Moorish ceiling lights sharing space with ‘fanimation’ palm-leaf ceiling fans. Globe wall lights are spaced among the bookcases.
“The room is furnished with a carved repo antique lion library table that temporarily supports a large collection of laminated maps (until I can figure out a proper way to usefully display them),” says Russ.
The desk is from China, a sizeable rosewood piece embellished with carved dragons, and the adjoining side table is a documented antique dating from 1916 made by the C.W. Fischer Furniture Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“The marble coffee table between the couch and the TV is inlaid with semi-precious stones said to be the descendants of those who decorated the Taj Mahal,” Russ reveals.
OCCASIONAL NEW BOOKS
Russ, who has worked in the financial industry for 55 years, no longer collects books, but will buy one occasionally about a current topic.
A recent purchase was ‘Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World’ by U Thant’s grandson, Thant Myint-U.
This is a history of the turbulent 1960s told through the life of U Thant, then secretary-general of the United Nations, whose decisions helped shape global war and peace. He is widely credited for his role in diffusing the Cuban missile crisis.
A Burmese diplomat, U Thant was the third person to hold the United Nations post, as well as being the first non-Scandinavian to do so.
The book has been described by one reviewer as “essential reading for anyone interested in the origins and possibilities of our current global crisis”.
When Russ was an intern at the United Nations in 1967, he met U Thant, and has a small picture of the two of them on display in the library.
“I was able to visit Burma, now known as Myanmar, a few years ago when it briefly opened to the world for the first time,” he says. “It is now closed again, so I was very lucky.”
