Owner of used bookstore leaves $700,000 to UW Libraries

Friends remember David Bell, former owner of the University District store Magus Books, as a private man of few words whose eyes would light up when he came across an old, rare book.

"This would be great in the rare book room at the UW," one friend and employee recalled his saying more than once, noting that the University of Washington alumnus particularly liked that part of the university library network.

		Courtesy of R. Vize / 1993
	David Bell, who owned Magus Books for decades and died almost two years ago, willed $700,000 to UW Libraries' special collections

But no one really knew how deep Bell's love for those dusty volumes went. When Bell died almost two years ago, he left about half his estate to UW Libraries -- a sum of about $700,000 -- specifying that the endowment be used to preserve the libraries' special collections.

UW library officials knew Bell left something to the libraries, but expected the amount to be smaller -- about $100,000. They learned of the total amount earlier this month. Bell's estate is likely to be settled soon.

"This endowment was kind of a surprise to us," UW Libraries rare book curator Sandra Kroupa said. "I think this is just one of those situations where you can never tell how much of an impact you make on someone's life."

UW Libraries tends to bring in a lower total of gifts and grants than academic departments. The UW recently surpassed a $2 billion fundraising goal set in 2000. But less than $10 million of that has gone to the libraries.

Bell's endowment, one of the largest in the history of the UW's special collections, will be used for the preservation and conservation of books that date to the 15th century, Kroupa said.

With the exception of a few bequests to friends, Bell left the rest of his estate to the American Civil Liberties Union. The few who knew Bell well weren't surprised that he named UW Libraries in his will, or that he was secretive about the decision. He was a quiet, solitary man. Bell toiled for decades to build a successful used-book business. He left behind neither a wife nor children.

He was born in North Dakota in 1936 but grew up in Ballard. Bell earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the UW in 1964 and traveled the world in 1968.

After returning to Ballard, Bell worked as a chemist at the UW and Harborview Medical Center before opening the bookstore on Northeast 42nd Street with a business partner.

At first, the store specialized in items relating to astrology and the occult -- neither of which Bell had much interest in, friends say. When Bell acquired the entire store in the late 1970s, he converted it into a used-book store.

Though Bell sold Magus Books four years ago to Chris Weimer and Hanna McElroy, the ivy-shrouded bookstore a half-block from the UW campus remains very much as it was before the sale. High shelves stretch nearly to the ceiling, and customers have to turn sideways to squeeze past one another between the stacks.

Though Bell sold the store when his health began to deteriorate, employees say he's still there if you know where to look.

A silver-framed picture hanging behind the store's register shows a man with a white beard and dark clothes sitting at a desk bathed in golden lamplight. Piles of books, cabinets and a coffee maker frame Bell's face, lowered in concentration over a ledger open on the crowded desk.

That back-office scene was typical six days a week for at least two decades, said Maureen Duryee, a 27-year employee of the store who took the photo in the early 1990s.

Duryee said Bell especially enjoyed visiting the UW's rare book room and had a close relationship with Robert Monroe, the UW's former head of special collections.

"I believe when David abandoned the UW as a job and opened this store, he made a little promise to himself that they'd be in his (will)," she said.

"He said he was troubled because he felt the university didn't have the means to care for some of the books," said Charles Leibst, a lifelong friend of Bell's and executor of his will.

Leibst said Bell was often generous, but rarely let on how he spent his money. Once, Leibst remembers, Bell helped pay for a medical procedure needed by a transient who spent time on nearby University Way.

Bell willed Leibst the contents of his Ballard home, meaning Leibst is now the proud caretaker of about 37,000 books, many about science and World War II.

Bell had lived for years in the Ballard home where he grew up, but had so many books that he had to buy a larger place.

"He loved going out and looking for books," Leibst said.

"He finally found his place when he (found) the book business."