Robin Waterfield's of Oxford

I first visited Robin Waterfield's secondhand and antiquarian bookshop in Park End Street, Oxford (opened in 1976) on January 14, 1980, when I bought The Tourist Guide by Jaroslav Hašek. I just learned of Waterfield's very colourful life from his obituary.

There is another Robin Waterfield (see wikipedia), classicist and author of Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths.

Brattle Book Shop: the mind of Boston

Brattle Book Shop is the best secondhand bookshop that I know of in Boston. the intellectual heart (unsuitable metaphor?) of America's east coast. Its unique outdoor display is most memorable.

A video tour of Brattle and interview with the owner.

As a nostalgic note, I bought these good books, among others, from Brattle on July 2, 2002:

A Temple to knowledge: Blackwell's Norrington Room, Oxford

                                              (source)

Opened in 1966, the Norrington Room was (but no longer, I suppose) the largest single room devoted to book selling, as certified by the Guinness Book of Records. Instead of focusing on Mathematics, Science and Engineering during my frequent visits there, I invariably wandered off to the enticing displays of knowledge and wisdom all around me.

*** Postscript ***

There is now an online virtual tour of Blackwell's, offering panoramic views from various vantage points. A good view of the Norrington Room is available here.

**************

Blackwell's in Books: here

Wonderful friends of the library in Ithaca

Almost comparable to the classic secondhand bookshops (such as Thornton's of Oxford) in Britain, as a treasure trove of affordable and invaluable secondhand books, is the Tompkins County (New York State) Friends of the Library Book Sale, held in Ithaca (New York State), site of Cornell University, in the spring and fall of each year. Books on sale are mainly donated by residents in the vicinity of Ithaca.

Today, October 16, 2010, is the first day of this fall's sale. I would be there if I am anywhere in the vicinity.

I have now 219 books bought during seven of these sales, at an average price of  US $1.16 per book.

The high quality of the books on sale is perhaps consistent with the fact of Ithaca being a university town. However the huge quantity of books  is truly amazing. The collectibles on sale are also interesting.

The floor plan seems to have been unchanged since my last visit fifteen years ago, on October 12, 1995. The wide range of books can be gauged from it.

(Appreciation of the book sale can be found online.)

Farewell, Thornton's of Oxford

Thornton's (its site history) is no longer a  brick-and-mortar bookshop since January 1, 2003. It has disappeared into the cybersphere (cyberia?). The building at 11, Broad Street now houses a cafe.

When I was last at Oxford in November 2001, Thornton's, a classic English secondhand and antiquarian bookshop in operation since 1835, was still thriving, apparently.  I had not then realized that it had faced bankruptcy, and been sold by the Thornton family in 1983.

Thornton has nourished me intellectually, and exercised a decisive influence on my intellectual life. It deserves to be remembered with affection and gratitude.