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HomeOnce Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire

Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire

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.

Read the book here.

  •  Last updated: September 22, 2023

on the web

Looking for reviews, author bios, and discussion questions to stimulate conversation? We’ve compiled these for you!

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*Oliver Darkshire Biography

From the publisher's website

CBS Eye on the World – The Life of a Rare Bookseller with Oliver Darkshire | John Batchelor

"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.

Financial Times: Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire — in search of literary gold dust

Social insights and eccentricities from behind the counter at one of the world’s oldest antiquarian booksellers.

Kirkus Reviews: Once Upon A Tome – The Misadventures Of A Rare Bookseller

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.

The Mark Twain House & Museum Programs & Events: Once Upon A Tome: The Misadventures Of A Rare Bookseller with Oliver Darkshire

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).

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