Dubbed the “Indiana Jones” of the art and collecting world, long-time U.S. dealer Ken Rendell has spent decades adventuring around the globe to track down, buy and sell the most significant historical artifacts from the Renaissance through the present day.
Through his career, Rendell amassed stocks of U.S. presidential letters, the world’s most comprehensive collection of Second World War artifacts – from Nazi party banners to U.K. prime minister Winston Churchill’s propaganda posters – plus worldwide numismatic issues, including rare British coins.
Most recently, Rendell has shared his story in a riveting memoir, Safeguarding History: Trailblazing Adventures Inside the Worlds of Collecting and Forging History, which will go on sale through Whitman Publishing on Oct. 3. Safeguarding History begins with Rendell’s earliest adventures collecting and dealing rare British coins at age 11 before he discovered the world of historical letters and documents, which he continues to work with through his business in Boston, Mass.
Now in his 80s, Rendell has been a dealer since 1959.