Pradeep Sebastian writes on his experience inside Strand, the world's largest second-hand bookshop.
The experience of being inside the largest second-hand bookshop in the world makes me feel, strangely, uncomfortable. One immediate reason for this could be the obnoxious bookshop assistant I had the misfortune of asking for help, the other is the sight of literally hundreds of people foraging in the store, falling on books as if books were going out of style. It's the only time I am uncomfortable with my reading and book collecting addiction. Here you meet thousands like you, and it is not always a comfortable sight. And there is nearly something shamelessly exhibitionist about this bookshop.
The bookshop, of course, is the Strand in New York on 12th street and Broadway. With 2.5 million books as its inventory, it is a staggering used bookstore: there are entire floors not open to the public which act only as storehouses for hundreds of unopened boxes with books as yet not inventoried. Its owners, the Bass family (Fred, Nancy) have often pointed out that it's just possible that Strand's staff may never even get to it, and that they may remain unopened forever.
Many of these boxes contain rare books that should go to their Rare Book floor, but may never see the light of day. What treasures are stored away in these boxes? Perhaps no one will ever know.
When I leave the bookshop, I always buy their T-shirt which says 18 miles of books. Ten years ago it used to be 8 miles of books. The books come everyday in the form of entire private libraries and estates that Strand acquires. Umberto Eco, great bibliomane and author of The Name Of The Rose, has said this is his favourite bookstore in the world because he always finds something here that he has not seen or known of before. And this is true. That's part of my scary experience here: I am always coming upon books and writers I never knew existed.
The experience of being inside the largest second-hand bookshop in the world makes me feel, strangely, uncomfortable. One immediate reason for this could be the obnoxious bookshop assistant I had the misfortune of asking for help, the other is the sight of literally hundreds of people foraging in the store, falling on books as if books were going out of style. It's the only time I am uncomfortable with my reading and book collecting addiction. Here you meet thousands like you, and it is not always a comfortable sight. And there is nearly something shamelessly exhibitionist about this bookshop.
The bookshop, of course, is the Strand in New York on 12th street and Broadway. With 2.5 million books as its inventory, it is a staggering used bookstore: there are entire floors not open to the public which act only as storehouses for hundreds of unopened boxes with books as yet not inventoried. Its owners, the Bass family (Fred, Nancy) have often pointed out that it's just possible that Strand's staff may never even get to it, and that they may remain unopened forever.
Many of these boxes contain rare books that should go to their Rare Book floor, but may never see the light of day. What treasures are stored away in these boxes? Perhaps no one will ever know.
When I leave the bookshop, I always buy their T-shirt which says 18 miles of books. Ten years ago it used to be 8 miles of books. The books come everyday in the form of entire private libraries and estates that Strand acquires. Umberto Eco, great bibliomane and author of The Name Of The Rose, has said this is his favourite bookstore in the world because he always finds something here that he has not seen or known of before. And this is true. That's part of my scary experience here: I am always coming upon books and writers I never knew existed.
Strand's gigantic stock and book expertise is sought after by celebrities who simply hand over a check for a large amount and ask owner Nancy Bass and her team to assemble their private library for them. The bookstore also features in movies often as backdrop, and handpicked staff assemble authentic looking private and public libraries as props for films that feature books.
In my last two visits to this bookshop, I found myself skipping the first two floors entirely and heading straight for the Rare Books floor. Here everything is quiet and orderly. I never thought I would actually be thankful for a used bookstore being neat, but the Strand is the one place where book chaos — always welcome otherwise — is too overwhelming. Here I browse at leisure, occasionally looking up to nod at others, as if in recognition that we, a community of book collectors, are a cut above the riff raff browsing downstairs.
The truth is I can seldom afford to buy most of the books here but I enjoy being among these first and rare editions. And I made a find of sorts here which was not as expensive as it could have been — a signed US first edition (the true first being the Italian edition) of Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Leona. Now, admittedly, the truly great find would have been a signed edition of The Name Of The Rose. But considering any signed copy of an Eco's book is scarce, it was a nice little thing to run into. And its provenance? Eco had visited Strand recently and they had got him to sign as many copies as they could. So if it wasn't for Strand, I would not be the owner now of a fine, scarce edition. Out of the book chaos of Strand, a delicate triumph.
Personalities 
The experience of being inside the largest second-hand bookshop in the world makes me feel, strangely, uncomfortable. One immediate reason for this could be the obnoxious bookshop assistant I had the misfortune of asking for help, the other is the sight of literally hundreds of people foraging in the store, falling on books as if books were going out of style. It's the only time I am uncomfortable with my reading and book collecting addiction. Here you meet thousands like you, and it is not always a comfortable sight. And there is nearly something shamelessly exhibitionist about this bookshop. 
When I leave the bookshop, I always buy their T-shirt which says 18 miles of books. Ten years ago it used to be 8 miles of books. The books come everyday in the form of entire private libraries and estates that Strand acquires. Umberto Eco, great bibliomane and author of The Name Of The Rose, has said this is his favourite bookstore in the world because he always finds something here that he has not seen or known of before. And this is true. That's part of my scary experience here: I am always coming upon books and writers I never knew existed. 
When I leave the bookshop, I always buy their T-shirt which says 18 miles of books. Ten years ago it used to be 8 miles of books. The books come everyday in the form of entire private libraries and estates that Strand acquires. Umberto Eco, great bibliomane and author of The Name Of The Rose, has said this is his favourite bookstore in the world because he always finds something here that he has not seen or known of before. And this is true. That's part of my scary experience here: I am always coming upon books and writers I never knew existed. 
