book❤read⚡ Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller

Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller
Description :
A Literary Hub and BookPage Most Anticipated Book of 2023

Welcome to Sotheran&#8217s one of the oldest bookshops in the
world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards,
unlabeled keys, poisoned books, and some things that
aren&#8217teven books, presided over by one deeply eccentric
apprentice.Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the
hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761) to apply for a job.
Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a
management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon
unteetering stacks of first editions and placating the
store&#8217sresident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a tram).A
novice in this ancient, potentially haunted establishment, Darkshire
describes Sotheran&#8217sbrushes with history (Dickens, the
Titanic), its joyous disorganization, and the unspoken rules of its
gleefully old-fashioned staff, whose mere glance may cause the
computer to burst into flames. As Darkshire gains confidence and
experience, he shares trivia about ancient editions and explores the
strange space that books occupy in our lives&#8213whre old books
often have strong sentimental value, but rarely a commercial one.By
turns unhinged and earnest, Once Upon a Tome is the colorful story
of life in one of the world&#8217soldest bookshops and a love letter
to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be
uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment. 6 illustrations