Nothing is obsolete for Concord bookseller

Nothing is obsolete for Concord bookseller

Modern technology might be eroding the classic book industry, but you cannot tell that walking into Robert McDowell Antiquarian Books on Thoreau Street.

“I don’t feel that books will be obsolete in the near future. I have seen many millennials who have frequented book shows and have a big interest in buying books,” McDowell said.

Big-box bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, in concert with online sellers such as Amazon, have done their part in fueling the decline in mom-and-pop stores.

McDowell’s interest in buying and selling books started early. In high school, he developed a passion for history and rare books. While in college, he hung out in old bookstores, and cultivated a network of booksellers that eventually prompted him to start his own business.

A lot of the books in his inventory date from the 15th century to the 1800s. Browsing the online listings at his shop turn up volumes such as “An Essay on the composition and manner of writing of the ancients, particularly Plato,” by James Geddes, published in 1748. (“The gilt crest and initials of Rev. Theodore Williams are stamped in gilt on the front cover. His coat of arms is also stamped in gilt on the rear cover.”) There is also a complete set of Sir Walter Scott’s “Waverley” novels, dating to 1893.

McDowell peruses church, estate and yard sales along with auctions to purchase his diverse collection. He also connects with other dealers in the country. He also has a membership in the Southern New England Antiquarian Booksellers, a trade organization of 130 used-booksellers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

“I usually do about three book shows per year in Boston and New York, and that can be a fun and lucrative way to generate sales and meet interesting book aficionados,” McDowell said.

Catering to customer needs is important for an antiquarian bookseller, McDowell said.

“Many people from the states and Europe call me about witchcraft, vampires/ghosts, occultism, mythology and early published travel logs (accounts of voyages by land and sea). I’m not sure why people are interested in witchcraft, but the City of Salem, and it’s fascination with the Salem Witch Trials and witchcraft in general, might play into this popular request,” McDowell said. “In Europe, witchcraft existed on a much greater scale, so the interest in this subject became strong as well.”

One of McDowell’s favorite books is M.R. James’ literary ghost stories. James (1862-1936) was a Cambridge University don. His ghost stories focused on scholars and antiquarians who are curious for their own good and evoke a wonderful sense of slowly growing dread.

Some of the books that he has sold for large sums of money include “The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet” (1572), which records the latter part of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. McDowell sold this book to the Boston Public Library for $7,000.

Another passion of McDowell’s is his love for bookbinding. In his workshop stand a number of tools ranging from brass pallets (tools that are heated up and used for making gilt and blind tooled lines and patterns in leather) to irons used to polish leather. A lying press is used for holding books while working on the spine or the edges.

“Depending on the book, you want to preserve and store each book and that can take days to weeks to bind a book. Plus paring down the leather can be a time-consuming process. You don’t want the leather to get too dry, and temperature and moisture is an important factor,” McDowell said.

Another feature that has been popular for centuries in books is marbled paper. This technique consists of dyes or inks floating in a shallow tray of water that contains a gelatinous sizing agent. The colors are then combed into various patterns, and a sheet of paper is laid overtop to pick up the ink design.

Many European books from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries used this paper as the end sheets. A lot of books bound in half-leather and in quarter leather from the 18th and 19th century often displays marbled paper on their covers. This decorative paper comes in a variety of colors and patterns and certainly enhances any book.

Tuesday
Jan 23, 2018 at 1:41 PM Jan 23, 2018 at 1:53 PM