Walter Van Rensselaer Berry (1859-1927)
Lawyer & President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris; died unmarried
He was a close friend of Henry James and was later described as, "the epitomy of elegance in the Jamesian manner". He lived in Paris at 53 Rue de Varenne in the same building as Edith Wharton. When Berry died, he left his highly-prized private library of 8,500 books to his first cousin's son, Harry Crosby, "except such items as my good friend Edith Wharton may care to choose". To Crosby's consternation, Wharton took almost every item of interest and value that amount to some 500 pieces including books and letters.
