Strand, New York City’s iconic bookshop

Be rewarded, or snubbed, in the Rare Book Department of Strand

Published - February 03, 2018 05:00 pm IST

My earliest visits to Strand, the famous secondhand bookshop in New York City, had all been unpleasant. This would have been between the late 1990s and early 2000. Rather than feeling like the magical book emporium it was said to be, it felt like a warehouse, a godown, where books were one more commodity to trade or traffic in. I would feel exhausted leaving the shop, thankful to be out of there and on the street.

The staff came across as gruff, indifferent, and looked annoyed that you had buttonholed them to ask a question. The feeling at Strand seemed to be that if you had to ask someone where a book was rather than browse for it in the store, you couldn’t be a serious book-lover.

Inauspicious start

Strand, a New York icon, seemed those days to mirror the city’s brusqueness. I learnt mostly to stay away from it. Many years later, perhaps it was 2014 or 2015, a friend dragged me along to the bookshop, and I found to my surprise a lot had changed: right at the door you were greeted by a staffer with ‘Welcome to the Strand.’

People came up to you and asked if they could assist or help you browse, some even with a smile. Then I noticed the interior itself had been overhauled, and realised a conscious effort had been made to dispel the old unfriendliness.

Strand has been on my mind because its co-owner of over 70 years, Fred Bass, passed away this January. I can’t help wondering now if this new openness had been more the work of Nancy Bass Wyden, his daughter, who now helms Strand.

The newer, friendlier Strand had me dropping in more often, and in the process, I made a wonderful discovery about the bookshop that had been there all along, and that I had foolishly missed: their Rare Book Department on the third floor. Here the hustle and bustle of downstairs was replaced by a calm, sumptuous, antiquarian atmosphere with glass-paneled shelves running along the wall, and glass counters exhibiting the more expensive merchandise. There were even a few chairs and some sofas to lounge in, to leisurely browse the carefully picked stock. But here, too, I had an inauspicious start — and this time the blame was all mine.

On my second or third visit to the Rare Book third floor I had taken with me a few choice books from my collection to sell or trade. I must add that I thought by this time I had mastered the art and science of selling one’s books to used bookstores.

Third floor adventure

Through trial and error, I had figured out it wasn’t about taking cartons of books but picking a few that were long out of print, uncommon, or on the want-list of most secondhand bookshops. And you got a better deal if you choose trade over cash: if the bookseller says he can give you 10 in cash, ask for store credit where you’ll get 20 to spend in the shop.

This time what I had with me to offer Strand were not secondhand books but antiquarian; which is why I was headed to the upper Rare Books floor.

I had with me a first A.C. McClurg edition of The Return of Tarzan without the dust jacket, and vintage paperbacks of The Maltese Falcon and Dracula . A couple of small-time dealers I had shown them to had told me I could get $40 for the lot.

I was looking forward to the juicy store credit of $80 or so. I handed my books over to the ‘Strand Buyer’, who took less than five minutes to make an offer.

“I can give you $10 for the Tarzan ,” he said, “and these two I don’t want.” He handed back the vintage paperbacks. I continued to stand there, uncomprehending. He waited patiently, even sympathetically. I left, deciding not to trade, taking all of them back with me.

It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened. Strand sees a lot of rare book traffic, and the books I had bought were not so uncommon or scarce in their dealing experience.

Also, Strand offers the most competitive prices, even on its third-floor stock. The dealers who had shown such keen interest in these books did not see such copies often, and were willing to price it much, much higher.

I’ve never bothered to trade in books again, but I’ve spent plenty of time over the years looking for rare book bargains here, and usually find them at very inviting prices.

And the staff on the third floor have always been courteous, friendly, helpful, and at times, even chatty.

The author is a bibliophile, columnist and critic.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.