Like their high-street equivalents, these idiosyncratic adornments to local shopping are a disappearing species, notes the Guardian.
From the article...
Secondhand and antiquarian bookshops are undoubtedly an endangered species. It used to be the case that, travelling round the country, most market towns and villages would have a used bookshop, where a grumpy and omniscient proprietor would hold court, and it might be fun to browse or to hunt for bargains. You'll remember the sort of place: bit cramped and dusty, with shelves categorised by type of book: old sets, antiquarian books in tired leather bindings, separate sections for poetry, travel books, art books and catalogues for long-forgotten shows, perhaps a (locked) glass case with some "rare" books in it, usually a back room in which the dealer kept his uncatalogued books, recent acquisitions, and a handful of the most expensive items, which he guarded as if it were Fort Knox. Dealers were admitted on receipt of a business card, but "the London boys" were mistrusted and made to feel as if they were casing the joint.
They were. In those days, dealers went on "scouting" trips, and might spend weeks on the road, driving from one such shop and village to the next, building up their inventory, taking advantage of knowing that little bit more than the local proprietors did. In the 1970s and 80s, when my family went on holiday to Cornwall or the Lake District, a tour of the local shops would almost always cover our expenses. On trips to America I would count it as a failure if I couldn't pay my way within the first two days. It was genuinely fun, and I regarded it then – I was still a full-time academic and only a part-time dealer – as a free
1 comment:
Nice one. Come back to the Lake District and you'll find in one bookshop at least, fusty, dusty, tired books have been well and truely buried. Left in the last century where they belong. Bookshops are disappearing because owners won't change with the times. We did. Daisyroots Book Centre in the South Lakes area is not just thriving, its growing as well. A rare thing today. Unfortunately its unlikley you'll be able to subsidise your visit at the owner's expense!
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