Adam J. White passes along this observation:
I was sitting at the D.C. Circuit courthouse today, watching oral arguments, when I noticed that I was sitting under the portrait of Judge James Buckley, WFB’s brother. In the portrait — painted by Claude Buckley, who is Reid Buckley’s son and the judge’s/WFB’s nephew – Judge Buckley sits next to a bookshelf containing three noticeable bits of memorabilia:
First, a judicial reporter marked volume 424 — obviously a reference to Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976).
Second, a polar bear — a reference to his trips to the Arctic, and his love of polar bears.
And third — the one of most obvious relevance to NRO — is a book marked “WFB” on the spine. A lovely tribute to his brother.
The WFB volume has no title, and it’s quite a bit thicker than most of WFB’s books. Most likely the artist and subject had no specific book in mind, but it appears to be roughly the same size as Miles Gone By, WFB’s lovely “literary memoir,” which was published in 2004 — the same year that Judge Buckley’s portrait was painted.