Produced by Chuck Greif, ellinora and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) ADVENTURES IN AMERICAN BOOK SHOPS BOOKS BY GUIDO BRUNO Eternal Moments Sentimental Studies A Night in Greenwich Village Fragments From Greenwich Village The Sacred Band Moore Versus Harris Adventures in American Bookshops To be published in December, Stories By the Way A Handful of Contemporaries Near the Night Lamp _Adventures in American Bookshops, Antique Stores and Auction Rooms_ _By Guido Bruno_ _Detroit: The Douglas Book Shop_ _1922_ Copyright, 1922, by GUIDO BRUNO Printed in the United States of America _To RAGNA_ One thousand copies of this book have been printed and the type distributed. No. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 9 The Romance of Buying and Selling Old Things 11 Auctions as Amusement Places 24 The Strange Discovery and Disappearance of Stuart’s Washington 30 New York Book Shops 39 Den of a Pessimist A Whitman Enthusiast An Optimist A Gambler Bookshops of Enthusiasts Book Dealers in Cobwebbed Corners Specialists in Excitement Dealers in Literary Property 71 Autograph Brokers 73 Our President’s Handwriting 76 The Romance of a Chicago Book Dealer 87 Chicago Book Shops 91 Chicago Revisited 95 In Boston 100 Small Town Stuff 108 New York Book Magnates 112 Snapshots in Art Galleries on Fifth Avenue 117 ’Way Down in Greenwich Village 120 President Harding’s Favorite Book 126 Index 126 Preface These sketches appeared originally in Pearson’s Magazine, Bruno’s Weekly and the Book Hunter, and I make grateful acknowledgment for permission to reprint.