Welcome to Sotheran’s, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabelled keys, poisoned books and some things that aren’t even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice.
Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd on Sackville Street (est. 1761) to interview for their bookselling apprenticeship, a decision which has bedevilled him ever since.
He’d intended to stay for a year before launching into some less dusty, better remunerated career. Unfortunately for him, the alluring smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap proved irresistible. Soon he was balancing teetering stacks of first editions, fending off nonagenarian widows with a ten-foot pole and trying not to upset the store’s resident ghost (the late Mr Sotheran had unfinished business when he was hit by that tram).
For while Sotheran’s might be a treasure trove of literary delights, it sings a siren song to eccentrics. There are not only colleagues whose tastes in rare items range from the inspired to the mildly dangerous, but also zealous collectors seeking knowledge, curios, or simply someone with whom to hold a four hour conversation about books bound in human skin.
By turns unhinged and earnestly dog-eared, Once Upon a Tome is the rather colourful story of life in one of the world’s oldest bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.
REVIEW
The blurb captures the essence of this book really well. It is a memoir that details some of the author’s experiences of his time working at Sotheran’s, one of the oldest bookshops in the world. The book starts at his interview, and contains anecdotes that show readers a good portion of his tenure there.
I never thought I’d read, and review a non-fiction book, but this has changed all that. Oliver Darkshire has ensured that this is a witty, somewhat exaggerated account of some of his experiences at the bookshop. Each of the chapters in the book contain some context about the world of rare-bookselling, are short, but do a great job of printing the story in the reader’s mind.
“They don’t tell you before you sign up to a bookshop that a significant part of your role has nothing to do with books, and everything to do with managing a host of colourful and fragile personalities.”
This is written with dry humour, great care and deliberation, and also contains political observations. It took me on a tour of many different aspects of life working as a bookseller. Throughout my childhood, I romanticized the idea of being one. Later, I realised that this was just a specialised retail job that comes with its own trials and tribulations. This book has destroyed any remaining fancies I might have entertained in this regard, but in a very entertaining way.
A few anecdotes in this account are interactions I have personally seen happen in a bookstore, and many of them made me laugh. There were, of course, other parts of it that showed the author’s appreciation for those they worked with, and others that painfully show their frustration at the reality of it being a career that might not have the best remunerative future possible.
The only downside for me was that the stories did not come together into a cohesive narrative, and I admit that maybe I had the wrong expectation to begin with. This was a bit clearer toward the end that made it seem like this was a series of chapters put together to capture the author’s experience and persona, while being a peek into the world of rare bookselling. Since this is subjective, your reception of this may differ, so don’t let this put you off. I would’ve personally preferred otherwise.
In short, this was a delightful read. It was a great way to get a few chapters in before bedtime, and I don’t regret it at all. It makes for an easy recommend for readers and booksellers alike. Don’t miss out on reading this.
LINKS
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