The Bookshop

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Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see the stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

 

Evan Friss's history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin's first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including the Strand, Chicago's Marshall Field & Company, the Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over the course of more than two centuries--including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who signed books at Marshall Field's in 1944.

 

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life--and why we still need them.

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The Bookshop

FAQs

Can you order a book for me?

Of Course!

Whether it's an out of stock title, or an item we don't yet carry, email us: illumebooksnbpt@gmail.com

Please provide the title and author in your request.

Do you provide shipping?

We provide shipping using USPS to the United States only.

If you prefer to pickup your order in-person, please select "Pick Up" during checkout.

What is the return policy?

merchandise returns for store credit within 14 days. No returns on Illume Essence, art & unwrapped games. All returns at discretion of the bookseller.

Are all of your products available online?

While we do our best to offer as much of our inventory online as possible, the best way to see everything is to stop by! ✨

We have small rotations of home decor, our reading inspiration gallery (shop made and oh so shiny), chess sets, and more.

Curation and "Why Don't You Carry..."

Illume is an experience for readers that's meant to showcase a careful selection of titles much in the same way an art gallery would display an exhibition.

Titles are always shown "cover forward", and our inventory rotates to reflect current reader interests, shifting topics, and obscure finds. That said, we LOVE recommendations! Let us know what you're looking for, or what your favorite reads are. You may find them on the shelves soon!

Whether you're a stacked to the brim library connoisseur, or a minimalist looking for a rare gem... we hope you'll enjoy our open space, find a new treasure, and experience the cozy reading couch🤍