Set to open this summer, View Boston is a new three-story observation deck at the top of the Prudential Tower. The venue will feature dining options, an open-air roof deck, and an immersive theater showcasing some of Boston’s most iconic locations—including your favorite secondhand book shop. We’re honored to be included, and to play our small part in the unique and character-rich life of this historic city, especially in a time of increasing cultural homogenization across the US. Listen to learn about our other favorite local spots on an elevated new #brattlecast.

Today we’re taking a look at some vintage issues of LIFE Magazine, half a truckload of which recently arrived at the shop. Full of iconic photojournalism and snappy graphic design, LIFE’s oversized pages are endlessly fun to flip through—and convey so much information about mid-century American culture. Listen to hear our favorite LIFE stories, from Woodstock to working moms, on this eye-opening new #brattlecast.

In this episode, we’re talking about one of our favorite things to see in the shop: vintage postcards. While today they’re mostly used to show off vacation vistas, in the past postcards conveyed holiday greetings, commemorated historical events, and gave ordinary people an inexpensive way to keep in touch. Around the turn of the century, improvements in postal service, printing, and eventually photography set the stage for a golden age of postcards in the United States and Europe. Their popularity waned as telephones became more common, and dropped dramatically due the rise of social media. Affordable, easy to find, and dealing with a broad range of subjects, old postcards can be a fascinating and fun introduction to collecting. Listen to learn more, and don’t be afraid to drop us a line at [email protected].

Today we’re talking about Armed Service Editions: paperback books designed to be sent overseas to American troops during World War II. Edited and printed by the non-profit Council on Books in Wartime, they were small, portable volumes with oblong silhouettes that could easily fit into a uniform pocket. Complete and surprisingly uncensored novels by authors like Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald were a hit with the armed services—so much so that it’s hard for collectors to find copies in good condition today. In addition to improving morale, Armed Service Editions helped lay the groundwork for the paperback publishing boom of the 1950s, which brought inexpensive, conveniently-sized literature to a broad audience, transforming reading habits around the world.

Usually if you walk into the Brattle with an introductory math textbook you’ll receive a polite ‘no thank you.’ However, it’s a slightly different story when that textbook was published in 1695. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a still-pretty-accurate antique trigonometry book, written in Italian and complete with engraved illustrations and folding diagrams. We’ll talk about what makes technical volumes valuable—aside from sheer age—and why Brattle is less math-phobic than most secondhand book shops (an academia-rich location, strong employees, and Ken’s background in chemistry play a part). Learn how it all adds up on today’s tangential #brattlecast.

A university without books? Today we’re talking about the recent announcement by Vermont State University that they’ll be building an “all-digital library” and getting rid of print books as a cost-cutting measure. The decision has drawn a strong backlash from students and faculty, but, as enrollments drop, funds are slashed, and courses move online, it makes a gloomy kind of sense. Uncomfortable questions are being raised about the future of higher education in the United States. For the children of the rich, academia will continue to deliver a particular aesthetic experience—leafy quads, serendipitous browsing, and screen-free studying in a book-lined space—while for the rest it may shrivel into a bare-bones jobs training program. Join us for the discussion on this all-digital #brattlecast.

Today in the studio we have a collection of letters and speeches from one of the most colorful political figures in Massachusetts history. James Michael Curley served four terms as Mayor of Boston, a single term as Governor, and five months, for mail fraud,  in Danbury federal prison. An Irish Catholic from a working class background, Curley frequently clashed  with the city’s WASP establishment, becoming known for his wit, generosity, and corruption. He got jobs for constituents, built beaches and parks during the Great Depression, and even took the civil service exam on behalf of a friend (technically that’s cheating). Listen to learn more about Mayor Curley’s fascinating career, and to decide if his story has any relevance to our current political moment.

In this episode we’re talking about—or “riffing on”—a group of classic rock-related books, magazines, and memorabilia that recently arrived at the shop. While not the most monetarily valuable, it’s a fun collection to have around, mostly because it takes Ken back to his days as a young rocker in 1970s Boston. He saw The Stones at the Boston Garden, Van Morrison at Harvard Stadium, and—he thinks—Jimi Hendrix at the South Shore Music Circus (if you can confirm that this show happened please email the shop). Somewhat surprisingly, Ken also reveals that he attended Woodstock in 1969, but volunteers only that it was “interesting” and that “the traffic was bad.” Listen to learn more about electric guitars, Tulsa tourism, and the power of nostalgia on this very freewheelin’ new #brattlecast.

Today in the studio we have a first American edition of the catchily titled Directions on the Treatment for Persons who have Taken Poison, and those in a State of Apparent Death, Together with the Means of Detecting Poisons and Adulterations in Wine, also, of Distinguishing Real from Apparent Death by Mathieu Joseph B. Orfila. While we wouldn’t necessarily recommend following its medical advice, the book provides a fascinating look at early toxicology. It describes the effects and (alleged) treatments of various potions, poisons, and scorpion stings—a helpful resource to anyone working on a historical murder mystery. Join us for anecdotes about antidotes on a killer episode of the #brattlecast.

Today in the studio we have an 1852 copy of The Oasis: or, Golden Leaves of Friendship, edited by N.L. Ferguson. The Oasis is part of a whole genre of 19th century gift books: illustrated anthologies of poetry, essays, and short fiction with titles like The Keepsake, Forget-Me-Not, and The Book of Beauty. Published annually before the holiday season, they were intended to be given as presents, often with a handwritten inscription from gifter to giftee. Gift books were frequently criticized and parodied—even during the Victorian era—for their hackneyed sentimentality and shallow moralism, and were arguably valued more for their ornamental bindings than their literary content. However, for collectors today, the inscriptions themselves—written by long-dead ordinary people, husband to wife or parent to child—convey a timeless tenderness.