Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books

Today we’re talking about a charming 1835 letter—recently found in a New England attic and purchased by the shop—from Ralph Waldo Emerson to a girl named Lucia. In the letter, Emerson exhorts his young correspondent to listen in solitude to the voices of nature, to the “great old gray ocean” and the “withered leaves that chatter in the cold March wind.” These themes would recur in his 1863 essay, Nature, a foundational text of the Transcendentalist movement. Although this particular letter is not in perfect condition, the author’s voice shines through, kindly and respectful, carrying a message that can still touch our lives today.

During the American Civil War, Walt Whitman left his bohemian life in New York City to volunteer at Union hospitals in Washington DC, spending time with wounded soldiers and distributing small gifts of fruit, paper, and money. To fund these efforts, the poet solicited charitable donations from his network of friends via letter, one of which we have in the studio with us today. Over its four pages he thanks the recipient for their gift of $75 (a substantial amount of money in 1864) and details overwhelming conditions at the hospitals as they received trainload after trainload of sick and injured men. The suffering and mass death he witnessed in the war—punctuated by quiet moments of courage and affection—would have a transformative impact on Whitman and his later work; these were, in his own words, “real, terrible, beautiful days!”

Today we’re looking at an issue of The Southern Workman, a monthly journal published from 1812–1939 by Virginia’s Hampton Institute Press. Founded shortly after the Civil War as the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, the Hampton Institute trained Black and Indigenous students to become teachers and community leaders, as well as offering vocational skills that would enable them to support themselves in the impoverished South. One of their most famous alumni was Booker T. Washington, who returned to teach at the school before moving on to the Tuskegee Institute. Interest in Black history-related books and ephemera is growing, and items like this—undervalued for too long—are waiting to be archived, studied, and discovered by collectors.

In this episode we’re looking at a foundational text of modern math and science, Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The volume with us today is a beautifully bound third edition, published in 1726 (a first edition, worth millions, would have probably stayed back at the shop, although Ken does describe an electric encounter with Newton’s own annotated copy). Concerned that these laws of motion might be too easy to understand? Don’t worry, the book is also written in Latin. We’ll round out the episode with a chat about more recent collectible math books—and take an interesting digression into the history of the dust jacket—on this dynamic new #brattlecast.

Today in the studio we have another unusual travel souvenir: an album of large, hand-tinted photographs of Japan in the 1880s, only decades after the country was first opened to Western tourism. Bound in illustrated lacquered covers, these photos—of temples, landscapes, and people in traditional dress—have remained exceptionally sharp and clear, offering us a window into the tumultuous Meiji period. We’ll also discuss the improvements in postal service that caused lavish souvenir albums to fall out of fashion, the influence that Japanese art had on turn-of-the-century painting movements in Europe and America, and a popular new TV series that might spur interest in an item like this.

Do you have an idea for a future brattlecast? After about 200 episodes, we could certainly use some. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions or areas of interest.

Hailed as a modern holiday classic, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers was nominated for five Oscars this year, including Best Picture—all thanks to a short but memorable scene in the Brattle’s sale lot. In this episode we’ll talk about what being featured in such an acclaimed film has meant for the shop: an influx of cinephile visitors, local news stories, and callers with questions (yes, those were our books). We’ll also dish out some flattering gossip about actor Paul Giamatti and spill the low-tech special effects secrets we picked up during our day of filming.

Today we’re talking about trying something new at the Brattle: brand-new books. We’ve recently purchased a large collection from a relocating publishing house that didn’t want to move its stock. It’s an unusual turn for the shop, which is known for its rare and secondhand volumes, but this group—nicely bound reissues of overlooked classics, collected quotes, and American historical documents—was a good fit for us, so we figured, why not? Placed up front by the registers, they’ve been a big hit with our growing contingent of tourist visitors, teaching us that sometimes change (but not too much change) can be a good thing.

In today’s episode we’re talking about a first edition copy of Nathanial Hawthorne’s Famous Old People, a book for young readers about American historical figures. The book was published in 1841 on Boston’s West Street—just a few doors down from where the Brattle stands today—by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, a fascinating historical figure in her own right. The first woman publisher in the United States and an early champion of Hawthorne’s work, Peabody ran a book shop and lending library at 13 West Street, where her salons became an important meeting place for the transcendentalist and early feminist movements. Although it tells the stories of New England puritans and political leaders, Famous Old People is also a reminder of Boston’s rich literary history, in which the Brattle is honored to play a small ongoing role.

Today in the studio we have some unusual pre-postcard souvenirs: panoramic photographs of various cities and tourist sites, each folded into a booklike decorative binding. Published in the late 1800s—and in exceptionally good condition—these albums offer detailed bird’s-eye views of Denver, San Francisco, Chicago, and Salt Lake City, among other destinations. They’d make a great starting point for a larger collection, or a thoughtful gift for someone interested in one of these places, or in early photography. We’ll also reveal the one type of collection that Ken absolutely will not buy for the shop, plus the somewhat kitschy souvenir that he can’t seem to stop collecting.

Today we’re talking about one of the shop’s biggest recent book buys: about thirty thousand volumes from Albany, New York. Motivated by a fear of missing out, we made the long trip and were rewarded by a house (including the kitchen cabinets) packed with vintage pulp paperbacks, art books, comics, and even some racier adult material. When you move so many books there are a lot of logistics—ten 6am drives, hundreds of flights of stairs, snow management, and boxes stacked to the ceiling of the Brattle’s capacious basement—but we’re happy to bring this especially fun collection to our customers. Pop by and browse it for yourself if you plan to be in Boston any time over the next few years.