
David Bloom is the Senior Specialist for Books, Maps & Manuscripts, serving the department in the role of active emeritus. He specializes in rare books, manuscripts, maps, ephemera, and antiquarian documents.
Mr. Bloom joined Freeman's in 1983 after a fateful visit to the company's loading dock one afternoon on errand for a previous employer. Since then he has been head of the Books, Manuscripts & Prints Department for nearly twenty years, overseeing more than 120 sales of antiquarian books, manuscripts and a host of other printed artifacts. Mr. Bloom has overseen the sales of collections such as the sale of Historic Muhlenberg Property and The Mount Saint Alphonsus Seminary Library. Under his guidance, the Books, Maps & Manuscripts department has seen outstanding successes such as the auctioning of a rare first publication of the U.S. Constitution printed by Dunlap & Claypoole in the Sept. 19, 1787, Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, which more than doubled pre-auction estimates selling for $207,225.
Mr. Bloom's wealth of knowledge and mercurial sense of humor has gained him a loyal following among collectors and connoisseurs of vintage books and ephemera. He has more than maintained the reputation Freeman's first established over two hundred years ago as a venerable source of Books, Maps & Manuscripts though his unique personal style and highly regarded expertise. His fondness for the printed word extends far beyond the doors of Freeman's. Mr. Bloom boasts a tremendous personal collection of books, highly esteemed for their value both professional and personal.