Brattlecast #72 - Small Pleasures

We’re talking little, tiny, miniature books: books so small you could fit many of them into a single regularly sized book. Books that could go onto the bookshelves of a dollhouse. A Bible the size of your thumbnail. Books so diminutive and light that the booksellers who specialize in them are the envy of the rest of the rare book world; those who have to deal with heavy, normal sized books. Books that you would read as you curled up on a ball of yarn with a spool of thread as a table and a thimble full of tea. If this isn’t delightful to you then I don’t even know anymore!

Brattlecast #71 - Anne Frank Collections

It’s a story of hardship and optimism that has never ceased to move us, but which has taken on a particular resonance in these difficult times: The Diary of Anne Frank. We’ll talk about the story of its original publication, take a look at some early editions, and think about the lessons this book can impart to us in our own moment of crisis and isolation. Plus, do you have a fascinating item at home that you’d like to hear virtually appraised on the podcast? We’re welcoming submissions from listeners; please contact the shop at info@brattlebookshop.com.

 

Brattlecast #70 - Fashion Collections

A collection of French fashion magazines from the 1920’s sends us off into an exploration of fashion magazines in general. They contain a lot of good outfit ideas, sure, and some have gorgeous illustrations, but they’re also a fascinating record of everyday life. The history of hemlines and purses can also be read as a history of women’s freedom and independence. Echos of the most outlandish haute couture design eventually percolate down through the culture into the clothing pages of the Sears & Roebuck catalog. All men wear hats everyday, until one day they don’t. Join us for a stroll down the runway and into history in this very snappy #brattlecast. 

Bonus Brattlecast - The Impact of Covid-19

On this special episode we talk about how Ken and the Brattle are coping with the Covid-19 crisis. It’s a situation now sadly familiar to most of us: uncertainty and dread, financial apprehension, the feeling that one had strayed into an episode of The Twilight Zone. But, although the shop is temporarily closed to the public, and the city of Boston feels eerily deserted, we find some cause for optimism: the Brattle has weathered many calamities over its long history. For now, all we can do is stay healthy, be patient, and, sometimes, escape into the pages of a good book.

Bonus Brattlecast - Social Distancing in the Brattle’s Basement

Like many of us, Ken is spending some time doing some long-delayed housekeeping and organizing: finding things he’d forgotten he has, and things he thought he’d lost. But, unlike many of us, he’s tidying up a basement in which 40 years of boxes containing possibly rare books have accumulated. We’ll talk about some of the treasures he’s unearthed during his Covid cleanup, and about his hopes for his most frequent customers: now that they’ve been forced to stop shopping for books, maybe they can stay home and read some of the books they already have.