Antony Rota, antiquarian bookseller ( 1932-2009)
Rota was born in Palmers Green to a bookselling dynasty in 1932, and attended Southgate County School. He inherited the booksellers Bertram Rota in Long Acre when his father died suddenly in 1966. Rota was described as having the appearance of a ‘watchful benevolent eagle’, with a puckish sense of humour and more interest in books and people than in money. With his father, Rota made first editions of UK writers a ‘cultural commodity’.
Rota wrote an autobiography, ‘Books in the Blood: memoirs of a fourth generation bookseller’ in which he recounted his friendships with writers and his bookfinding trips to the USA.
Sources / More information
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/18/anthony-rota-obituary