Brattle Book Shop, one of the oldest antiquarian book shops in the United States, is tucked away on a quiet one-way street just off of the Boston Common. The street it's on is pretty easy to miss (I almost walked by it completely!), but the store itself is easy to spot by its huge book-shaped sign, the pencil above the door, and its lot of sale books (ranging from $1 to $5) right next door.
As I entered the store, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books that are packed into it. The first floor isn't huge, but there are at least a dozen shelves loaded with books of all genres.
After perusing the shelves and refraining from buying all of the books, I talked to the woman working at the front a little more about the shop itself. She gave me a pamphlet containing the history and general description of the store (from which I learned that there are about 250,000 books crammed into the shop's 5,500 square feet) and answered some questions that I had that related more to the purpose of my project.
Firstly, I asked her about the types of people that generally visit the store. She explained that customers come from a variety of backgrounds. In her words, there are some regulars who "call in sick" when they can't make it into the store one day while at the same time people passing by will stop in off the street just on a whim.
I also asked her what her take was on how online options and e-books might be affecting the shop's sales. She asserted that she doesn't think online shopping is making that much of a difference for Brattle, especially since it caters to such a niche market. The shop does have a website for the higher ticket items, although they don't waste the effort on the majority of their lower-priced options. And regardless of the website, she mentioned that sometimes people will call to inquire about certain rare books. These books are outside of the mainstream books that are carried by big box stores and websites, so Brattle has been able to stay afloat.
Next, I moved upstairs to the second floor. The stairway is plastered with posters boasting rare books and other antique items that the shop has sold. Notable sales include a signed photo of Abraham Lincoln for $75,000; the 1860 Baseball Players' Pocket Companion for $12,500; an inscribed biography of George Gershwin with for bars of music for $20,000; an original signed drawing by macabre artist and writer Edward Gorey for $6,500.
The second floor has the same kind of books as the first, but a narrower set of stairs tucked away in a corner leads to the third floor, which houses most of the shop's rare books. There was another employee on that level, so I asked her about what she thought about the health of bookstores in this age of technology. She admitted that independent bookstores are "a dying breed", adding that Borders, a big box bookstore, closed a few years back and there are only a handful of independent bookstores left in Boston now when there used to be one on almost every corner a few years ago.
I then proceeded to browse the rare books for a good half hour. Some interesting ones that I remember looking at are a special edition copy of The Wizard of Oz from the 1990s and a very old copy of the Bible (with the Old Testament and New Testament bound separately).
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Brattle Book Shop and even managed to not buy anything, although I do still have two more bookstores to visit, so I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on that. I'll be back next week, but until then, happy reading!
Very cool! It's pretty neat to see how these small bookstores are scraping by when even the big boys are crumbling. It's gotta be cool to really feel that history that permeates the store. I'm excited to hear about the online component too. Since you're in Boston, might as well stop by Cheers. Where everybody knows your name.
ReplyDeleteI did actually walk by Cheers! I didn't go in, but I did take some pictures (like any true tourist).
DeleteI can't believe that I never visited Brattle while living in Boston - another reason to go back! :)
ReplyDeleteHave you found that it is typical for independent stores to also sell other items like photos? Or big ticket items like autographed copies? I'm excited to see more - loved the photos!
Hi Ms. Mitrovich! Independent bookstores do tend to sell items other than books like homewares, tshirts, and other bookish trinkets. The stores that sell the more big ticket items tend to be more specialized, like Brattle. Changing Hands actually often sells autographed copies of books from their author signing events that are the same price as an unsigned copy, which I always though was pretty awesome. Thanks for the comment!
DeleteThis is so amazing! How much did the Wizard of Oz copy cost? Do you think these kinds of bookstores cater to more high income consumers?
ReplyDeleteHi George! I don't remember exactly how much it cost, but I think I remember it costing around $40. I think the bookstore actually caters to customers of all incomes. There are the high-ticket items that are available for those who can and want to buy them, but there is also an outdoor lot with shelves of books that can cost as little as $1. So there seems to be something for everyone!
DeleteElizabeth,
ReplyDeleteHow did you manage not to buy anything? It must have been really hard to leave empty handed. If you could have acquire any of those books in the story, which one would you pick and why?
I think the main reason I didn't buy anything was because I was so overwhelmed by the amount of books there were that I didn't even know where to start!! I did look at a few of the old copies of classic children's books that were up on the antiquarian book floor including the special edition copy of the Wizard of Oz, which I mentioned in my post. My sister and I have been fans of the Wizard of Oz pretty much since birth (one of my first birthday parties was Wizard of Oz themed and I have owned many Dorothy costumes and pairs of ruby red slippers in my 17 years), so I probably would've bought that. Never fear, though; as you'll see in my next post, I did some serious shopping at the Strand in New York (and will probably do some more at the bookstore in Nashville that I'll be visiting later this week).
DeleteWow Elizabeth I am super jealous! When you visited Brattle, was it busy? What types of customers were in there? Do you think these kinds of bookstores attract more of an older crowd or do you think it's generally all ages of people?
ReplyDeleteHi Micki! When I was at Brattle, there was only a handful of people in the store and a few more in the outdoor lot. In terms of the types of customers, I remember seeing a wide variety of people, including an old man, a college-aged man, and a mother and her child (who looked to be kindergarten/first grade aged). I think that group of customers is pretty representative of the typical customers that this type of store gets, especially because they offer such a wide range of books. Just at Brattle you can get things like old copies of Shakespearean plays, old copies of the Bible, new or old math and engineering books, historical books, recent cookbooks, comic books, and the list goes on. I even remember seeing a copy of one of the books in the Twilight series on one of the $2 shelves in the lot outside. So I think that is one of the main reasons why the customer base of Brattle and other stores like it tend to be so diverse.
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