Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Welcome to Sotheran’s, one of the oldest bookshops in the world, with its weird and wonderful clientele, suspicious cupboards, unlabeled keys, poisoned books, and some things that aren’t even books, presided over by one deeply eccentric apprentice.
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- Last updated: September 22, 2023
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From the publisher's website
"Once Upon a Tome" is the colorful 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.
Social insights and eccentricities from behind the counter at one of the world’s oldest antiquarian booksellers.
A delightful portrait of “the ugly stepchild of the antiques business or the art world.”
Publishers Weekly Review of Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller
In this witty and heartwarming memoir, Darkshire, a former bookseller at London’s Henry Sotheran Ltd., catalogs the stories behind the books, patrons, and antiques that found their way to the shop during his apprenticeship.
Considered a Literary Hub and BookPage Most Anticipated Book of 2023, ONCE UPON A TOME is the colorful story of life in one of the world’s oldest bookshops, Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761).