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PODCAST

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books

Brattle Book Shop

At one of America"s oldest bookshops, there are just as many stories to be told outside the pages as in them. Join Brattle Book Shop proprietor Kenneth Gloss and co-host Jordan Rich as they share insightful and entertaining conversations and histories surrounding Boston"s favorite spot for bibliophiles. Topics range from military autobiographies to regional cookbooks and everything in between. Updates every two weeks.

arts literature

All Episodes

00:13:35

Brattlecast #112 - African American Periodicals

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/09/21

Today we’re talking about historic African American periodicals. These newspapers and magazines often had smaller circulations than their white, mainstream counterparts, making them harder to find and more collectible today. It’s a broad and varied field, which includes the abolitionist newspapers of the early 1800s like Freedom’s Journal and The North Star, the literary journals of the Harlem Renaissance, and more recent lifestyle magazines like Ebony and Jet. These periodicals were influential in

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00:17:07

Brattlecast #111 - What About Dr. Seuss?

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/09/07

This past March, the estate of Dr. Seuss announced that they would no longer be publishing new copies of six of his lesser known children’s books: And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer, explaining in a statement on their website that, “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”A sort of tantrum ensued, not from the books’ intended audience of readers aged 4-6 years old,

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00:12:01

Brattlecast #110 - A Historic Customer

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/08/24

In this episode Ken talks about meeting a customer who, turns out, has an amazing family history. This is a story that really illustrates the importance of treating people well, no matter what. Speaking of meetings, we’re always happy to get in touch with you, our listeners! Feel free to reach out with questions, episode ideas, or just to introduce yourself. Our email address is info@brattlebookshop.com; and you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, we’re @brattlebookshop on all three.

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00:11:31

Brattlecast #109 - Where's Ken's Book? (audio fixed)

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/08/13

Edit: Sorry about the technical difficulties! The episode should work now.Ken tells great stories, and he’s around books all day, so people sometimes ask him, “Why don’t you write a book of your own?” It’s a nice idea, but, unfortunately, being good at selling books doesn’t necessarily translate to being good at writing them. Jordan, on the other hand, has just published a memoir: ON-AIR: My 50-Year Love Affair with Radio, which he wrote with the help of an editor friend (learn more about Jordan’s

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00:19:20

Brattlecast #108 - Viability of Owning a Bookstore

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/07/27

Is it still viable to own a bookstore in 2021? Essentially yes, as long as you don’t have dust allergies, back or knee injuries, or a burning ambition to become fantastically wealthy by owning a bookstore. People getting into the book trade these days tend to open smaller, more specialized shops; some sell exclusively online, and some even have a full time job and sell books as a hobby. Today we’ll talk about the ways that the industry is changing, and Ken will divulge some of his secrets to

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00:14:17

Brattlecast #107 - Favorite Books

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/07/13

In this episode, Ken talks about some of his favorite book encounters, from a long career filled with them. There’s Isaac Newton’s own copy of Principia Mathematica, an unsuccessful prospector’s gold rush diary, and a book woven entirely out of silk. It’s nearly impossible to pick a single favorite, but overall, the books that came with a great story have made more of an impression on him than the ones that were simply monetarily valuable.As things open up again, we’d like to encourage our listeners

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00:16:27

Brattlecast #106 - Tales of Ken's Father

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/06/29

People often ask Ken how to start a bookshop, but the truth is, he’s never done it. The Brattle has existed since 1825, and was in pretty tough shape when it was purchased by Ken’s parents, George and Dorrit Gloss, in 1949. Ken essentially grew up in the shop; legend even has it that his first word was “book”. All of us, to a certain extent, struggle to get along with our parents; imagine how difficult that relationship can become when your parents are also your coworkers. That difficulty is

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00:14:54

Brattlecast #105 - Book of Friends

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/06/15

Today we’re talking about two autograph albums from the shop, and about autograph collecting in general. Autograph albums used to be a popular way to collect signatures, not only from celebrities and public figures, but from friends and family members as well. Sometimes these snippets were accompanied by brief messages or bits of poetry. The value and desirability of specific autographs can fluctuate over time; recently Alexander Hamilton’s has skyrocketed, while Robert E. Lee’s has plummeted. We’ll

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00:15:45

Brattlecast #104 - Amazing Appraising

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/06/01

Do you hate it when a mysterious great uncle, who you’ve never even met, passes away and unexpectedly leaves you his rambling manor, about which dark rumors have circulated in the nearby village for hundreds of years, plus a cobwebbed, candle-lit library of rare works on the occult? Same. You may be thinking, “Welp, better get over there, spend the night, and flip through these books, reading passages aloud at random.” Wait. Why not call the Brattle and find out what you’ve got on your hands

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00:13:16

Brattlecast #103 - National Geographic

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/05/18

While our travel plans may be indefinitely postponed, a good issue of National Geographic can still take us on a vacation of the mind. The long-running magazine is known for its stunning photos, intricate maps, and absorbing reports from fascinating, far-flung locales. In this episode we’ll talk about its history, which issues are considered the most valuable, and even creative reuses for your old copies. While it’s not exactly scaling Annapurna, collecting National Geographic can be something of an

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00:14:04

Brattlecast #102 - Books go to the Movies!

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/05/04

Many zoom users have learned recently that the bookshelves in your background can reveal a lot about your character, but film set designers have always known this. As more movies have been filmed in Boston in recent years, the staff at the Brattle have gotten to see more of their books on the silver screen, and have even worked on-set themselves as book experts. In this episode we’ll talk about the process of pulling together a collection of books to be used as props: making sure they fit the

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00:11:52

Brattlecast #101 - Last Men of the Revolution

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/04/20

One of Ken’s favorite books, The Last Men of the Revolution brings American history vividly to life. During the Civil War, Reverend Elias Hillard tracked down, photographed, and interviewed six surviving veterans of the American Revolution. The men, who had fought in the Revolution as teenagers, were all over 100 years old by that time, although some come across as remarkably witty and spry. Photography itself was only about 30 years old at that time. Their portraits were published along with short

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00:19:29

Brattlecast #100 - The 100th Brattlecast!

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/04/06

Welcome to the 100th episode of #Brattlecast! We’re celebrating by talking about the Brattle’s appraisal of a document so culturally, historically, and monetarily valuable that it featured prominently in a recent Hollywood action movie, opposite co-star Nicholas Cage. But of course the real national treasure is all the fun we’ve had on the podcast, sharing these stories and connecting with our listeners. Thanks for coming on this journey with us—we’re already looking forward to the next 100

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00:14:15

Brattlecast #99 - Strand by Me

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/03/23

Today we’re discussing recent news about Covid-19’s impact on the Strand bookstore. The New York City institution received an outpouring of support after its owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, took to social media, detailing the 93-year-old store’s dire financial situation and asking the public for help. The Strand’s story has a happy ending, but many others have not been so lucky: according to the American Booksellers Association, more than one independent bookshop has closed for good each week since the

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00:17:21

Brattlecast #98 - Buy the Book

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/03/09

It’s something that many of us have a bit more time for these days: buying books online (and, ideally, reading them). In this episode we’ll look into some of the quirks and peculiarities that shoppers might encounter on the internet, like books that are priced way too high, or the same book being sold in a really wild range of prices (do I want the $6 copy, or the $2000 copy?). It turns out that usually the culprit behind these discrepancies is a confused computer algorithm, rather than an ambitious

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00:16:39

Brattlecast #97 - How to Look at Books

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/02/23

What do you look for when you’re looking at books? In response to this question from an antiques dealer who finds books to be something of a pain in the… past, Ken details the Brattle’s time-tested methods for determining, over the phone, which libraries might be of special interest to collectors. Of course no books are really a pain in the buns: some may be rare and valuable but the rest are still great reading material that’s heavy to move, frequently dusty, and emotionally difficult for people to

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00:13:18

Brattlecast #96 - The Grisham Conspiracy

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/02/09

Today we’re talking about Ken’s surprising appearance as a villain in John Grisham’s rare books heist thriller, Camino Island. Well, not Ken exactly, but someone very much like him. Oscar Stein is the fictional proprietor of the three story Old Boston Bookshop on West Street in downtown Boston, a shop that was founded by his father, Loyd Stein. Sound familiar? The only problem is that Oscar Stein is also a thief, his bookshop is failing, he’s weary of the book trade, and would rather pop pills in

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00:16:32

Brattlecast #95 - The Liberator & The North Star

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/01/26

Finally, some good news! Today we’re taking a look at the abolitionist newspapers of the 1800s. The Liberator was published here in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison, and argued that the institution of slavery was so deeply immoral that it must be ended immediately, a radical position at the time. Although it had a relatively small circulation, The Liberator was influential, shaping abolitionist thought and inspiring others to start their own publications, including Frederick Douglass, who founded

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00:13:38

Brattlecast #94 - Salesman's Sample Books

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2021/01/12

Today we’re taking a look at salesman’s sample books. These were not complete books, but mock-ups, usually consisting of sample pages of text, possibly with a few illustrations, examples of different available bindings, and a space in the back to take down orders. They were brought door to door by traveling salesmen around the time of the American Civil War, and can be rare and collectible today. The example we have in the studio with us is a sample copy of Grant’s Memoirs, one of the best works of

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00:12:22

Brattlecast #93 - Grapefruit

Brattlecast: A Firsthand Look at Secondhand Books ·

2020/12/29

Today we’re taking a look at a signed, second edition copy of Grapefruit, Yoko Ono’s pioneering work of conceptual art. Yoko Ono was a fixture of the subversive 1960’s New York underground art scene, and is most associated with the Dada-inspired Fluxus movement. First published in 1964, Grapefruit consists of a series of “event scores”, poetic, zen-influenced performance scripts that can be followed by anyone to create musical or artistic pieces. This particular copy is also signed by Ono’s husband

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