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Book Row: An Anecdotal and Pictorial History of the Antiquarian Book Trade
The city has eight million stories, and this one unfolds just south of 14th Street in Manhattan, mostly on the seven blocks of Fourth Avenue bracketed by Union Square and Astor Place. There, for nearly eight decades, from the 1890s to the 1960s, thrived a bibliophiles' paradise. They called it the New York Booksellers' Row, or, more commonly, Book Row. It's an American story, the story that this richly anecdotal historical memoir amiably tells: as American as the rags-to-riches tale of the Strand, which began its life as book stall on Eighth Street and today houses 2.5 million volumes in twelve miles of space. It's a story cast with colorful characters: like the horse-betting, poker-playing go-getter and book dealer George D. Smith; the irascible Russian-born book hunter Peter Stammer, the visionary Theodore C. Schulte; Lou Cohen, founder of the still-surviving Argosy Book Store; gentleman bookseller George Rubinowitz and his legendary shrewd wife Jenny. Rising rents, street crime, urban redevelopment, television-the reasons are many for the demise of Book Row, but in this volume, based on interviews with dozens upon dozens of the book people who bought, sold, and collected there, it lives again.
405 pages, Paperback
First published December 14, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 1, 2009
I have to admit I’m divided on this book. As a 4-5 block slice of New York City history, it’s thoroughly researched and reported and many times engaging, with some real characters from a decidedly off-center cache. And as an insider’s look at a burgeoning book trade with more book shelves per square block than we’re ever likely to see again (sadly), I found it in turn wistfully nostalgic in both the descriptions of dead booksellers and quotes from the ones still alive, and elegiac in its ruminations on the sad state of our post-Book Row culture.
The problem is, each of the things I liked about it work against it as well. Its narrow scope is problematic, at least within the framework Meador and Mondlin use, with many of the chapters seeming a lot like the ones before them with the names changed and a lot of factual repetition. And the nostalgia can get a little overbearing, with a pretty strong Neo-Luddite bias toward internet book dealers (“Those who had the books and the know-how might buy and sell books on the Net, but we’d like to hear Peter Stammer’s, Sam Dauber’s, and Jack Biblo’s views of them as secondhand book dealers”). You could also say that as estate book buyer for the Strand Meador’s neutrality might come into question, and you wouldn’t be disproved with chapter titles like “The Strand Lives On” and almost a third of the glossy pictures devoted to the Bass family that runs the Strand.
In sum I’d say this is a book for book-industry specialists (especially the older ones who might recognize more of the names the authors drop without much historical grounding) and book buffs with enough interest to sift through 400 pages that could have easily been 200. I fall more into the latter than the former, but even then would recommend Chapters One, Two, Five, Nine, Eleven, Fourteen, Fifteen, the Appendix (a cool little pre-Book Row history of books in NYC), and the foreword by legendary book collector Madeleine B. Stern.
The problem is, each of the things I liked about it work against it as well. Its narrow scope is problematic, at least within the framework Meador and Mondlin use, with many of the chapters seeming a lot like the ones before them with the names changed and a lot of factual repetition. And the nostalgia can get a little overbearing, with a pretty strong Neo-Luddite bias toward internet book dealers (“Those who had the books and the know-how might buy and sell books on the Net, but we’d like to hear Peter Stammer’s, Sam Dauber’s, and Jack Biblo’s views of them as secondhand book dealers”). You could also say that as estate book buyer for the Strand Meador’s neutrality might come into question, and you wouldn’t be disproved with chapter titles like “The Strand Lives On” and almost a third of the glossy pictures devoted to the Bass family that runs the Strand.
In sum I’d say this is a book for book-industry specialists (especially the older ones who might recognize more of the names the authors drop without much historical grounding) and book buffs with enough interest to sift through 400 pages that could have easily been 200. I fall more into the latter than the former, but even then would recommend Chapters One, Two, Five, Nine, Eleven, Fourteen, Fifteen, the Appendix (a cool little pre-Book Row history of books in NYC), and the foreword by legendary book collector Madeleine B. Stern.
October 19, 2021
Summary: A history of Book Row, a collection of used and antiquarian bookstores along and around Fourth Avenue in New York City.
Most of us who have loved books for many years have our favorite used and antiquarian bookstores. Many are memories. Others are still operating. Some were in out of the way places, some in bigger cities. In some cases, I remember places with multiple stores near one another. I think of some college towns like Ann Arbor and Madison where you could go from one store to the next. At one time, Harvard Square was like that. Now imagine all of those stores in one place, within walking distance of each other. There once was a place like that in New York City, known as Book Row, with upwards of twenty five stores along a one mile stretch on Fourth Avenue or one of the side streets. The heyday of Book Row ran from the 1890’s to the 1970’s.
Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador are Book Row veterans who have captured in a thoroughly enjoyable account the wonder of this place. One can almost smell the books and imagine the booksellers who delighted in the poor college students and the curmudgeons who begrudgingly permitted the worthy into their domains. They begin with George D. Smith, who began selling on Fourth Avenue in the 1890’s and created the ideal of the Book Row bookseller. He was among the foremost of antiquarian booksellers, who both acquired collections and helped build some of the greatest collections including that of Henry Huntington. He started his store near the Bible House, the home of the American Bible Society, which played a surprising role in many of the stores. He was a pioneer in the use of catalogues to market his books. He was a master on the auction floor, trusted by many famous clients to acquire books.
The authors go on to recount the lives of the other stores and booksellers along Fourth Avenue. What is striking is how importance the training of these booksellers was. They worked for publishers, they served as “book scouts” for established stores in acquiring needed inventory, they apprenticed in stores learning every aspect of the business. Then, often still at a young age, they launched out on there own, or sometimes with a partner. (The two Jacks, Biblo and Tannen, complemented each other in temperament and skills in one of the most famous Book Row businesses.) One of the marvelous aspects that comes up again and again is how booksellers actually helped newcomers enter the business, offering lots of books at low prices.
Perhaps part of the reason for this practice was the realization that Book Row was a draw because of the sheer number of stores. Everyone from poor college students buying books in the outdoor bins (seven for a quarter!) to rich collectors as well as business people and travelers from all over the country and the world came to Book Row to feed their particular love of books. The booksellers built on this shared interest and formed the Fourth Avenue Booksellers Association whose first act was to fight efforts to remove the sidewalk bargain stands that moved merchandise and brought people into the stores. They worked together from the 1940’s on to promote Book Row as a destination and eventually to host book fairs. They also contributed support and leadership to the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, which continues to promote the ethics and interests of the antiquarian book trade to this day.
Why did Book Row, apart from the venerable Strand, not survive? Two words: “rents” and “age.” Some operations, like the Strand, passed through two or more generations (three at least with the Strand). But beginning in the 1950’s several things happened. Wanamakers, the department store that was a magnet to the district, closed. The building owners started raising rents or seeking to convert buildings to high rent apartments. For a time, booksellers moved to lower rent storefronts. Some converted to doing mail order out of their homes, no longer opening their shops to “off the street” trade. Some moved away, opening shops elsewhere for a time. By the 1970’s, few were left and by the 1990’s they were all gone.
For a time, only the Strand, which owns its own building, was left (and still is, a destination in itself, with its miles of books). Then Steve Crowley opened Alabaster Books in 1997, still in business at the date of this review. The book also mentions Gallagher’s Art & Fashion Gallery, which was still in business in 2004 but no longer appears online. So it is now one store plus the Strand holding up the legacy of Book Row.
Oh, how I wish I’d visited Book Row in its heyday! I would have thought I’d died and gone to book heaven. This book is the next best thing. The accounts of the stores and their proprietors offered hours of delight imagining browsing those shelves. While Book Rows have disappeared in all but a few of the world’s great cities, there are stores still to be found, and even new ones that have opened during the pandemic. If you are so fortunate to have one nearby, treasure it while you can. The business is not easy and not one that usually enriches the bookseller, who certainly cannot survive on your good wishes alone. I cannot imagine that wandering from website to website would every be as delightful as a day spent wandering among the stores on Book Row. What a time that must have been!
Most of us who have loved books for many years have our favorite used and antiquarian bookstores. Many are memories. Others are still operating. Some were in out of the way places, some in bigger cities. In some cases, I remember places with multiple stores near one another. I think of some college towns like Ann Arbor and Madison where you could go from one store to the next. At one time, Harvard Square was like that. Now imagine all of those stores in one place, within walking distance of each other. There once was a place like that in New York City, known as Book Row, with upwards of twenty five stores along a one mile stretch on Fourth Avenue or one of the side streets. The heyday of Book Row ran from the 1890’s to the 1970’s.
Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador are Book Row veterans who have captured in a thoroughly enjoyable account the wonder of this place. One can almost smell the books and imagine the booksellers who delighted in the poor college students and the curmudgeons who begrudgingly permitted the worthy into their domains. They begin with George D. Smith, who began selling on Fourth Avenue in the 1890’s and created the ideal of the Book Row bookseller. He was among the foremost of antiquarian booksellers, who both acquired collections and helped build some of the greatest collections including that of Henry Huntington. He started his store near the Bible House, the home of the American Bible Society, which played a surprising role in many of the stores. He was a pioneer in the use of catalogues to market his books. He was a master on the auction floor, trusted by many famous clients to acquire books.
The authors go on to recount the lives of the other stores and booksellers along Fourth Avenue. What is striking is how importance the training of these booksellers was. They worked for publishers, they served as “book scouts” for established stores in acquiring needed inventory, they apprenticed in stores learning every aspect of the business. Then, often still at a young age, they launched out on there own, or sometimes with a partner. (The two Jacks, Biblo and Tannen, complemented each other in temperament and skills in one of the most famous Book Row businesses.) One of the marvelous aspects that comes up again and again is how booksellers actually helped newcomers enter the business, offering lots of books at low prices.
Perhaps part of the reason for this practice was the realization that Book Row was a draw because of the sheer number of stores. Everyone from poor college students buying books in the outdoor bins (seven for a quarter!) to rich collectors as well as business people and travelers from all over the country and the world came to Book Row to feed their particular love of books. The booksellers built on this shared interest and formed the Fourth Avenue Booksellers Association whose first act was to fight efforts to remove the sidewalk bargain stands that moved merchandise and brought people into the stores. They worked together from the 1940’s on to promote Book Row as a destination and eventually to host book fairs. They also contributed support and leadership to the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, which continues to promote the ethics and interests of the antiquarian book trade to this day.
Why did Book Row, apart from the venerable Strand, not survive? Two words: “rents” and “age.” Some operations, like the Strand, passed through two or more generations (three at least with the Strand). But beginning in the 1950’s several things happened. Wanamakers, the department store that was a magnet to the district, closed. The building owners started raising rents or seeking to convert buildings to high rent apartments. For a time, booksellers moved to lower rent storefronts. Some converted to doing mail order out of their homes, no longer opening their shops to “off the street” trade. Some moved away, opening shops elsewhere for a time. By the 1970’s, few were left and by the 1990’s they were all gone.
For a time, only the Strand, which owns its own building, was left (and still is, a destination in itself, with its miles of books). Then Steve Crowley opened Alabaster Books in 1997, still in business at the date of this review. The book also mentions Gallagher’s Art & Fashion Gallery, which was still in business in 2004 but no longer appears online. So it is now one store plus the Strand holding up the legacy of Book Row.
Oh, how I wish I’d visited Book Row in its heyday! I would have thought I’d died and gone to book heaven. This book is the next best thing. The accounts of the stores and their proprietors offered hours of delight imagining browsing those shelves. While Book Rows have disappeared in all but a few of the world’s great cities, there are stores still to be found, and even new ones that have opened during the pandemic. If you are so fortunate to have one nearby, treasure it while you can. The business is not easy and not one that usually enriches the bookseller, who certainly cannot survive on your good wishes alone. I cannot imagine that wandering from website to website would every be as delightful as a day spent wandering among the stores on Book Row. What a time that must have been!
August 2, 2018
As a self proclaimed bibliophile and voracious reader, I very much enjoyed reading Book Row and all its anecdotal history and stories.
March 17, 2024
A terrific book covering a magical time and place for bibliophiles. If 'book towns' are dream destinations for modern day booklovers, then those fortunate enough to live near Book Row in NYC were blessed with living in Utopia ... a real life Heaven-On-Earth.
July 1, 2010
I was hoping this book would be more of a critical history than this flat out accounting and recounting of the bookstores that populated the Fourth Avenue stretch of New York City from the 1940s-1990s. This is not to say it wasn't extensively researched, and I sympathize greatly with the authors' desire to illuminate the sellers who are often absent from book history. But, there might have been ways to incorporate the extensive interviews the authors' conducted into a more broad narrative about the fate of bookstores and book selling. As it was, the authors chose a number of book sellers to highlight in each chapter, and gave pretty much straight up histories of their various stores and practices. The chapters were thematic (though also largely chronological), but were inclined toward "great man" accounts of history more than they seemed dedicated toward pursuing a specific topic. The book is fascinating in parts, and predictable in others. For a less narrative and more critical history, however, I would look elsewhere. Personally, I wish I could get my hands on the interview
November 6, 2021
The history of Book Row is amazing, intricate and exciting. While most of the interviews and talk of the various bookstores are lively, it's the genuine love from the author that really shines through. I wish I was older and had gone to Book Row growing up, so I could feel part of this historical street and history.
December 26, 2021
Interesting history of time period and bookseller personalities. A bit dry but a good read for history buffs with a good dose of journalism to make easy reading.
October 25, 2023
Anecdotal rather than scholarly, this book is perfect for fans of the Strand, Book Row, or just browsing used book stores in general. The parts surmising about the potential impact of electronic books and Internet sales are outdated, so you can skip those. I happened upon author Mondlin's personal copy of Ahearn's "Book Collecting: The Book of First Books" at the Strand in 2022, which somehow made reading this even better. And I recognized Roy Meador on the jacket and realized, since he lived in Ann Arbor, that I must have sold him books when I worked in a used/rare shop there in the mid-nineties. Finally, the authors really talk up the Alabaster Book Shop, which still exists on Fourth Avenue, and I agree with the them. It's a great shop, especially for old or cult mysteries and noirs, NYC books, literary first editions and paperbacks, and art/photography. Okay, done nerding out.
October 12, 2022
As a boy, often learning and working in NYC in my trade, it was often my pleasure to grab the subway, and visit Book Row, for the books I needed. Like all bibliophiles, I still have them. I confess my favorite shop, The Strand, had moved off by then. I too, have a few stories of this wonderful place, and the people, I loved so much. My only problem with this book, is it is "padded". The same stories are told two, three four times, under different sections. Overall, reliving the shops and people, their stories, allowed me to slog through the repetitions.
January 18, 2025
There was a lot of time and research put into this book, giving backstories to the bevy of booksellers that set the stage for the bibliophiles of today. Pretty amazing how inexpensive rare books once were in comparison to what they are now. Driven by demand, of course, the cost of everything explodes. Also of interest were the meager starts to these notorious buyers and sellers. The vast collections and the impressive collectors. Some collections are still housed in notable libraries, others… Oh, where do they go?
November 8, 2023
If the term "second hand bookstore" makes you feel good all over than you will love "Book Row". There was a time when in New York an entire street was booklovers heaven - this is the time capsule for that time.
This book is about bibliophiles and written for bibliophiles. If you love books and you understand the particular magic of books you will like Book Row and I heartily recommend that you read it.
Reading this book feels like going into a book shop and browsing, just a happy, happy, feeling.
The writing flows smoothly as it takes us through the subject matter. And what a subject! I learned about catalogs and antiquarian books and buying private libraries and book auctions, a whole load of things about books and I could not get enough. Happily, the authors could not shut up about it too.
A very minor niggle I have is that the very last chapter seemed superfluous. It was like talking to someone and he's said everything but he just won't shut up so you have to gently pat him on the shoulder, hand him his coat, and close the door on him with a thank you. And that's just what I want to say to Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador: thank you for preserving a bygone time for those of us who - by reason of age or distance - have had no chance to experience it.
Find books that you might love in my book review site
This book is about bibliophiles and written for bibliophiles. If you love books and you understand the particular magic of books you will like Book Row and I heartily recommend that you read it.
Reading this book feels like going into a book shop and browsing, just a happy, happy, feeling.
The writing flows smoothly as it takes us through the subject matter. And what a subject! I learned about catalogs and antiquarian books and buying private libraries and book auctions, a whole load of things about books and I could not get enough. Happily, the authors could not shut up about it too.
A very minor niggle I have is that the very last chapter seemed superfluous. It was like talking to someone and he's said everything but he just won't shut up so you have to gently pat him on the shoulder, hand him his coat, and close the door on him with a thank you. And that's just what I want to say to Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador: thank you for preserving a bygone time for those of us who - by reason of age or distance - have had no chance to experience it.
Find books that you might love in my book review site
March 16, 2014
I had to give up on this book but will probably return to it as a reference source.
I just couldn't get past the writing style. I've been writing and re-writing this trying to find a way to describe it that's not overly snarky, but I can't, so instead I'll just link to John's review which is pretty solid and says everything I want to say in a constructive way. I also echo his recommendations of which chapters to focus on.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Anyone interested in the history of bookselling would be wise to pick this book up, because it is well-researched and there's a lot of good information if you can stomach the style. For me, the value of this book lies mainly in the index and the bibliography.
I just couldn't get past the writing style. I've been writing and re-writing this trying to find a way to describe it that's not overly snarky, but I can't, so instead I'll just link to John's review which is pretty solid and says everything I want to say in a constructive way. I also echo his recommendations of which chapters to focus on.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Anyone interested in the history of bookselling would be wise to pick this book up, because it is well-researched and there's a lot of good information if you can stomach the style. For me, the value of this book lies mainly in the index and the bibliography.
October 19, 2009
Book Row existed on Fourth St in New York. It was a row of secondhand bookstores dating back to the early 20th century. This book is what it claims to be, an anecdotal and pictorial (it could use more pictures) of some of the more colorful shops that made up Book Row. The anecdotes are interesting and have done much to tickle the imagination of this bookseller. I do find that it is sometimes slow going as the authors will reiterate a lot of material without adding to it. Overall it is wonderful to get lost in an age where expensive and rare 1st editions went for the princely sum of $30.
July 7, 2020
An enjoyable ride through the unique seven blocks that made up Book Row on Fourth Avenue. I love each and every visit I make to the Strand in Manhattan, but I didn't know about the massive concentration of book sellers that existed through the first half of the 20th century in that small area. The book drags a bit in places, but is deeply researched and many of the characters are fascinating.
April 18, 2009
Very enjoyable history of the famous NYC Book Row. As it turns out my late Aunt used to shop there all the time!
April 16, 2010
NYC's fourth street, in the good old days.
February 11, 2021
Enjoyed the historical aspect of the book. With the Strand being my “ go to” NYC bookstore, I decided to give it a read. May be a good idea to watch The Booksellers as a companion medium to the book.
June 13, 2021
I probably won’t read the second half—might dip in. Good information, but too encyclopedic and not “human interest-y” enough.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews