Kevin Royal Johnson has been a seller and appraiser of rare books and paper for nearly 30 years. He owns Royal Books in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in rare books and paper relating to world literature and the arts, with a particular emphasis in twentieth century cinema and music. 

Mr. Johnson is a member in good standing of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). He has worked as an appraiser for Emory University, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as many private individuals.  

He has authored two books on the first edition sources for American film noir, The Dark Page (1940-1949) and the The Dark Page II (1950-1965), and the first book ever written on twentieth century film script identification, The Celluloid Paper Trail. All three books were published by Oak Knoll Press between 2007-2019.  

In 2015 Mr. Johnson curated an exhibit of rare cinema-related photographs at the American Film Institute, titled Behind the Fourth Wall: Actors and Directors on the Set 1926-2001. He has lectured and taught on the subject of film script identification at Yale University, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School.