Eccentric doesn’t even begin to describe the people and book collections of Sotheran’s, an antiquarian bookstore in London. Founded in 1761, they found a writer to tell their story, their own apprentice, Oliver Darkshire. Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller, is a delightful book filled with odd people and even odder items.

Chris Saunders, Managing Director of Sotheran’s, and the author’s supervisor, writes a delightful opening note. The bookstore has been around since 1761, in one form or another, so no one really paid any attention when Oliver said he’d take over the store’s Twitter account. Why would something like the Internet stir up interest in a bookstore that was 260 years old? But, people found Darkshire’s accounts of his co-workers, customers, and books to be humorous. The book came about because of interest in that Twitter account.

Darkshire was hired for Sotheran’s apprenticeship program, with the understanding he would be made permanent staff after two years. The program had only been for one year, but according to Andrew, the store’s manager at the time, “The staff, he explained, was getting whiplash from learning one new name a year and it was all very inconvenient.” So, the apprenticeship became a two-year program. Andrew even enrolled Oliver in the government-sponsored apprenticeship scheme, which would pay some of Oliver’s wages if Sotheran’s could prove it was teaching him a trade. Woe to the government employee who had to check on that. I have the feeling people became lost in that bookstore, and were never found.

In fact, the store was renovated in what was referred to as “The Upheaval”. Afterward, the Powers that Be decided to have it inspected. The poor inspector didn’t know what to make of an antiquarian bookstore with ladders all over, one hidden fire extinguisher, and hazards of boxes and books. When he fled, he was never seen again.

Darkshire has so many stories, including trying to bring the store into the twenty-first century. (If you check the website, I don’t know how well he succeeded, but the store does have a website!) https://sotherans.co.uk/ His writing, and his summaries of chapters and life in the bookstore are a treat to read. And, he sums it up here. “This, I think, is the fate of the rare bookseller. You buy books, you sell them, and then you look after the ones which don’t have anywhere else to go.” Or, perhaps his summary is the funny Appendix, “Bookshop – The Game.” There’s no way to succeed with that game. You can succeed with the book, though, Once Upon a Tome.

Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire. W.W. Norton & Company, 2023. ISBN 9781324092070 (hardcover), 256p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley, with no promise of a positive review.