Madge Jenison (1874–1960)

An anecdotal account of a bookstore that opened in 1916. The description is dated on many accounts, and assumes much background information not shared by today's readers. Moreover, the author's vignettes do not cohere to offer a coherent history of the shop's adventures; one gets the sense that there is much going on that we are never told. For example reference is made to publishing activities of the shop, but we are never given any details. Still, two qualities make this worth reading. First, the bookstore was created to pursue a philosophy of getting good books into the hands of those who might otherwise never run across them. The final chapter is especially interesting for its description of the economics of bookselling, which appear to have changed little in the last hundred years.… (més)