12/12/2022

In this witty and heartwarming memoir, Darkshire, a former bookseller at London’s Henry Sotheran Ltd., catalogs the stories behind the books, patrons, and antiques that found their way to the shop during his apprenticeship. He comically recounts peculiar interactions with customers, or “cryptids”: one woman offered to sing for him then later recanted because his aura was off, a customer nicknamed The Spindleman kept trying to lend his own books in exchange for favors, and an elderly patron was always impossible to please. His humor extends to the store’s resident ghost as well, a polite spirit named Henry (after the last Henry Sotheran, who died in an accident not far from the store) who only caused minor incidents during Darkshire’s tenure. More serious matters include taking care of antiquated collector’s volumes, which involved keeping the books away from sunlight and the arduous use of book oil to preserve their covers. The entertaining stories of the challenges Darkshire encountered day-to-day and the eccentric customers he served over the years add a ton of appeal. Darkshire’s sunny temperament and respect for the trade will resonate with book lovers and fellow booksellers. (Mar.)

"[A] mischievous account…Darkshire’s whims and fantasies now take on solid form in…entertaining tales of bookshop ghosts, cursed volumes, and unwelcome visitants."

"Brim[s] with self-effacing charm."

"Extremely entertaining.… The anecdotes about the bookselling profession were as enlightening as they were amusing."

"Witty. Whimsical. Smart. A cozy gem for people who love books, bookstores, and booksellers. I loved this memoir so much I instantly picked it for our Fantastic Strangelings Book Club. Go read it. You'll thank me."

"Laugh-out-loud."

"Peculiarly hilarious!"

"Utterly charming."

"An enchanting billet-doux to an arcane and eccentric world. Every page is a pleasure."

"A browse through these hilarious pages is just as satisfying as a browse in a good bookshop."

"[A] mischievous account…Darkshire’s whims and fantasies now take on solid form in…entertaining tales of bookshop ghosts, cursed volumes, and unwelcome visitants."

★ 03/10/2023

This debut by former antiquarian bookseller Darkshire offers readers a wonderfully charming story about his bookselling life. He situates his story in Sotheran's, the well-known bookshop in London that was established in York in 1761. At the age of 20, the author interviewed for an apprenticeship at the shop. He gets it but intends to stay for only a year. Soon Darkshire realizes that he's drawn to the aroma and dust of old books, and he ends up working there for a decade. In this memoir, he colorfully tells story after story about the mishaps and unfortunate occurrences he experienced at the bookshop. He even tries to fend off the ghost of its late founder. One highlight of the book is a story centered on Sotheran's commissioning a bespoke copy of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. It proved impossible to sell and was sent off to New York City in the hopes of finding a buyer at a cut rate. Thus begin rich tales about life in Sotheran's, the people who work there, and the antiquarian book business. VERDICT A funny and witty memoir about life in the antiquarian book trade. Avid readers will love it.—Jacqueline Parascandola

2022-12-20
An antiquarian bookseller shares tricks and quirks of the trade.

Books about bookshops are popular, as Shaun Bythell’s diaries on life at the helm of Scotland’s largest secondhand bookshop have proved. Darkshire adds to the genre with this frequently hilarious work. On a whim, the author answered an ad for Henry Sotheran Ltd, a London antiquarian bookshop that opened in 1761, with its smell of old books, “a faintly unsatisfied smell, as if they’re all distantly aware that they’ve missed their chance to be a worldwide smash hit.” He accepted the shop’s offer to take part in their two-year training program even though “the wages for an apprentice bookseller seemed to have been frozen around when the Old Curiosity Shop opened for business in 1840.” In sections that correspond to subject classifications, Darkshire describes his years working at the shop. Among the characters populating this work are colleagues such as James, the man who trained him and watched over the shop with “suspender-clad perspicacity,” and the “cryptids,” or customers, who fit neatly into one of three categories: “They have never purchased a book….They are peculiar enough that you have doubts they are real….They repeatedly return to the scene of the crime as if drawn by a lure.” Then there are the shop’s oddities, from mysteries such as the “books hurling themselves from shelves when no one is present” to the Sotheran Curse, which began in the late 19th century after the last Henry Sotheran was killed by a tram, “which I think we can all agree was rather thoughtless of him.” The book is a series of anecdotes, which occasionally makes for choppy reading, but Darkshire makes up for this minor quibble with considerable, often dark humor. For example, in his description of bookbinding methods, he notes, “it is technically possible to bind a book in human leather, but the practice is frowned upon.”

A delightful portrait of “the ugly stepchild of the antiques business or the art world.