Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books

Perhaps amassing 2000 copies of Walden isn’t exactly what Thoreau meant when he exhorted us to ‘Simplify, simplify,’ however, some collectors do simplify their libraries by collecting different editions of a single book. Books like the Bible, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the works of Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Dante Alighieri have been published so often, with such a variety of bindings, languages, and illustrations, that a collection of even one of these books would be impossible to ever complete. We’ll take a look at a few of these monomaniacal collections on this week’s brattlecast.

An antique publicity photograph of ‘Young Ladies’ Baseball Club No. 1’ serves as a jumping off point for our look at the rugged, revolutionary women athletes of the late 1800’s. Decades before A League of Their Own, professional women’s baseball teams, in controversial uniforms and against the prevailing medical advice of the times, played for crowds of thousands. In this episode we celebrate these often overlooked sporting pioneers, and attempt to answer the age old question: is there crying in baseball?

Today we take a look at a first edition copy of Make Way for Ducklings. The Boston-set, Caldecott Medal-winning children’s classic, written and illustrated by Robert McClosky, follows a family of ducks on their journey through the city in search of a safe and comfortable home. Since its first publication in 1941, Make Way for Ducklings has delighted generations of young readers, been commemorated by statues and museum exhibitions, and continues to fly off the shelves at the Brattle today.

A radio interview with Lizabeth Cohen, author of the new book, Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age, reminds Ken of the Brattle’s own struggle with urban renewal. Logue was head of the Boston Redevelopment Agency when, in the 1960’s, the city demolished most of Scollay Square, a vibrant but increasingly seedy entertainment district - and original home of the Brattle Book Shop. Most of the area was replaced with the I.M. Pei designed Government Center, a monumental plaza of modernist buildings which many consider cold and alienating. Although Ken’s father, George Gloss, together with the Boston Athenaeum, raised enough of an outcry to save a few historic buildings from the wrecking ball, the Brattle itself was displaced. It would be the first of seven moves for the plucky book shop, one of which was occasioned by a catastrophic fire, but the Brattle endured, with a great deal of personality and help from the community; eventually landing in the West Street location where it thrives today.

After weathering months of pandemic-related closure and weeks of civil unrest, the Brattle is thrilled to be back in business! In this episode we’ll talk about our plans for reopening slowly, safely, and with cautious optimism. At first, only the outdoor sale lot will be open, stocked with plenty of fabulous new markdowns from inside the shop with masks and hand sanitizer for everyone. It’s been a difficult time but there’s a lot to be excited about in the new-normal future: people are reading more, Ken is able to give virtual lectures to audiences around the world, and, on a personal note, he’s now a grandfather! You can learn more about our reopening plans at: http://www.brattlebookshop.com/open. We are so looking forward to seeing you all again.

Elizabeth Bacon Custer was the wife of George Armstrong Custer, and, following his death at The Battle of Little Bighorn, was largely responsible for shaping his legacy. She also wrote three bestselling books about her life with her husband on the American frontier: Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains, and Following the Guidon. Learn more about the largely forgotten life of the woman behind an American myth on this week’s #brattlecast.

We take another look at the Brattle employee snarkfest that has bloomed into a peculiar cottage industry: curated books for Zoom backgrounds. Now that most interaction has moved online, the right library behind you can make just as much of an impression as your working from home turtleneck or flattering lighting. The books you choose (or let us choose for you) can be a great introduction to yourself and your interests, and convey intelligence, expertise, and gravitas. Read more in this recent Globe article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/07/nation/brattle-book-shop-is-curating-bookshelves-zoom-meetings-facetime-hangouts/

While we’re all cooped up at home, it’s a great time to take a look through some old photo albums, if you have them around. In recent years, collectors have begun to take more of an interest in vernacular photography: casual snapshots taken by amateur, usually anonymous photographers of everyday subjects which can inadvertently capture a wealth of fascinating historical detail. Vernacular photographs are a great entry point into collecting because they’re widely available, generally affordable, and, although they may have been taken without a specific artistic intention, can be aesthetically striking and affectingly poignant.

There are many problems raised by the Covid-19 crisis, but only one that the Brattle is uniquely poised to help you solve: everyone on the Zoom call can see your bookshelves, and they’re looking like trash, I’m sorry. Why not impress your colleagues with some nice new volumes curated by the Brattle team? We’ve got years of experience helping clients build decorative, custom libraries that highlight the best of their personalities and interests, and, frankly, not much else to do at the moment. So give us a call or an email, and move your dog-eared copies of the Twilight series down to the shame-shelf (below eye level).

We’re talking little, tiny, miniature books: books so small you could fit many of them into a single regularly sized book! Books that could go onto the bookshelves of a dollhouse! A Bible the size of your thumbnail! Books so diminutive and light that the booksellers who specialize in them are the envy of the rest of the rare book world, who have to deal with heavy, normal sized books! Books that you would read as you curled up on a ball of yarn with a spool of thread as a table and a thimble full of tea! If this isn’t delightful to you then I don’t even know anymore!