Beginning with the ambitious literary efforts of James Franklin and his indentured brother Ben, this is a charming, deeply researched, and surprisingly exciting history of the understated but vital role that booksellers have played in forging the American identity. Often paired with publishing houses and printers, bookstores were an essential source of information from the time of the Revolutionary War. Author Friss draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers, penning a wonderfully readable love letter to bookstores in America.
–Susan, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, WA
What to get the reader who has almost everything? How about books about bookstores? Eagle Harbor Book Company and other bookshops will be delighted to help.
