BOOKIN' IN BOSTON

A hunt for the best book emporia in town

I was standing at the Washington Street “little library” a couple of weeks ago (take a book, return a book) when I pulled out a delicious fat find to take home. 1000 Years of Irish Poetry. It seemed appropriate since it was right across the sidewalk from the Irish Famine Memorial, that puzzling piece of realist/conceptual public sculpture. (I’d once watched a well-dressed tot, urged on by her mom and her camera, drop coins in the starving beggar child’s hand. But I digress.)

That got me (naturally) to thinking about bookstores in Beantown. And that, of course, started with the lovely antique building on the other side of School Street from this very “little library”. When I first lived in the city it was still known as the “Old Corner Bookstore” which had been its tag since the 1830s when it switched from an apothecary store to Field and Tichnor’s publishing company and retail book stop. But that was the 1960s. Times had changed.

I didn’t know the history of the place in those days. The building had housed the famous Anne Hutchinson who was exiled to RI for bucking the doctrine in charge. After a fire flattened the, it was rebuilt as an apothecary store and residences, but by 1828 it snagged its first bookstore. It was a hit. Not only customers, but writers and “the trade” hung out there. I ran across an 1872 article in Harper’s, (as one does) that revealed, “it was the favorite haunt of Hawthorne, Thoreau, Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell… and scores of the Boston Literati. Behind the green screen which used to enclose a nook in the rear of the shop have been heard Thackery’s burly laugh and Dickens’ cheery voice.” Ah! Dickens again! They say it was his Boston headquarters when he was in town.

When I returned from the hinterlands to Boston in 1999, I raced to the corner to see what was up. It had changed, of course. It now sported a new sign- The Globe Corner Bookstore which was more about travel stuff- maps and highly illustrated memorabilia. It was disappointing, of course, but at least it was carrying on the literary tradition of the building. I didn’t bother returning for a long time, and there was suddenly a massive chain outlet across the street.

I returned a couple of years ago when I was prowling the neighborhood. Rounded a corner and saw the outline of the building I loved. But- stop!

Chipotle’s? Seriously? My heart cracked.

I needed comfort. I needed stability. I needed a long-lasting bookstore. I needed (in short) Brattle Books, only several blocks away from the demised Corner. So I literally pounded the pavement to West Street, turned the corner, and breathed. There were the scattered book cases open to the weather in the yard next to the old (established in 1825!) 3 story building. The $1 shelves. The $5 shelves. The innate trust of of an outdoor carnival of books. Of course I knew it was there and unchanged since the last time I was there (a few months before). Later on, I see it in the movie “The Holdovers”.

I wandered in and out and all around the joint. I dawdled. I bought. I was home once again and all was right with the world. I began a search to learn why two bookstores (that were still around almost 2 centuries later) began so close to each other and nearly simultaneously.

There are more indie bookstores around today, while the big chains topple from their mall perches regularly. The Davids win. I love the Trident with its small eclectic collection and fascinating calendar of events (two of my plays have been read there) and the new Beacon Hill Books and Cafe (with enticing reading nooks on the busiest street in the neighborhood). And there are ones I haven’t prowled yet, but am putting on my bucket list, like Commonwealth Books, Bromer’s, IAM….

Farewell Old Corner. Welcome another bookish world to take over my life!