Boston’s Brattle Bookshop first opened its doors in 1825. In 1949, the bookstore was struggling and getting ready to go out of business, so the Gloss family bought it. It turned out to be a wise investment.
Ken Gloss worked in the store after school and during the summers. While he was pursuing a degree in chemistry his father took ill, so Gloss made the decision to give up his schooling to run the shop and has never regretted it for a moment.
Brattle Book Bookshop is now three stories high and filled with every genre you can imagine. The books outside are bargain-priced, starting at just $1.
The Brattle Book Shop is one of America’s oldest and largest antiquarian bookstores. Gloss is a member and past president of the New England Antiquarian Booksellers Association, the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the Bostonian Society and the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers. He is frequently invited to speak on Boston’s local radio programs, at libraries and historical societies. He is often invited to be on PBSs’ Antique Roadshow.
“Going out to estates is the most fun,” Gloss explained. “The main reason people call about selling books is older people moving to a smaller place or it’s an estate. One time we got a call from one person who had 20,000 books in a four-room apartment.”
“Many times people will call that only have one or two books and they want to know their value,” Gloss continued. “Nowadays, with email and digital pictures, people can take a picture and email it to me and I can tell if I want to go out there or they can come to the store and I can usually give them a ballpark figure of what the books are worth.”
“Usually, it’s easier for us to go out to the estate,” said Gloss. “It is fun every day going to houses and meeting interesting people. Half the fun of collecting is the hunt.”
“Sometimes people call me saying they have 2,000 books and I’ve also flown thousands of mile to go after one book, if it is valuable enough,” Gloss said. “One day I might buy a group of books signed by Robert Frost, the next day railroads, and the next day children’s books. We specialize in not specializing.”
Gloss will be at the Westfield Athenaeum on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. His talk, “Is There Value in Your Old and Rare Books?” will be on rare books and first editions, and he’ll have samples from the bookstore’s private collection. Following his talk, he will do a question and answer period and, afterwards, give free appraisals on each and every book that is brought to him.
If you can’t make it to the Athenaeum to hear Gloss and get your books appraised, you can contact the store. There is always someone there who can answer questions. The Book stores hours are 9 to 5:30 Monday to Saturday. Call 1-800-447-9595, or visit their website, www.brattlebookshop.com.
