At one of America's oldest bookshops, there are just as many stories to be told outside the pages as in them. Join bookseller Kenneth Gloss and co-host Jordan Rich as they share entertaining conversations and histories surrounding Boston's favorite spot for bibliophiles.
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In this episode Ken shows off a bound volume of Harper's Weekly from 1863, and flipping through it with him is like peering into a fascinating time capsule from the Civil War era. Harper's employed some of the best journalists, artists, and photographers of the time, and in its pages eye-witness battlefield reportage and sentimental woodcut illustrations of homesick soldiers share space with advertisements for dubious health tonics and prosthetic limbs.
Ken Gloss takes Jordan Rich on a trip through "one of the best military autobiographies ever written", detailing the book's origins, publisher Mark Twain's involvement, and the phenomenal success it brought to one of the nation's most celebrated presidents. Learn about the value of old books, both monetary and historical, and some not-so-common sense about determining a book's authenticity.
