Ever wonder how to move 20,000 books? In this episode, we lay out the logistics of our largest book buys, from the initial phone call to the transportation, storage, and sweat-soaked tee shirts. Despite all the hard work, it’s always an exciting treasure hunt—and, as the number of general secondhand book stores dwindles, the Brattle is one of the few shops that’s able to tackle tens of thousands of volumes at a time. Join us for a look behind the scenes in this heavy-duty #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #149 - All Those Signed Copies
Today we’re talking about a great recent book buy: a library of about 25,000 interesting, well-cared-for volumes, many autographed by authors like Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, and P.D. James. There’s even a book of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs signed by his subjects. It took a lot of heavy lifting to get all those books back to the shop, but that’s what we do best – and why everyone who works here is so famously strong. If you also have 25,000 (or fewer) books that you’d like us to take off your hands, don’t hesitate to reach out at info@brattlebookshop.com.
Brattlecast # 135 - Big Book Hauls
When people think about the secondhand book business, they rarely think about all the literal heavy lifting that goes on behind the scenes. In this episode Ken breaks down the nitty-gritty logistics of getting 15,000 books from a three-story Victorian house outside of New Haven to the shop in downtown Boston. It takes eleven trips, employee overtime for days that start at 6am, thousands of cardboard boxes, tote bags of packing tape, a second set of clothes for when you sweat through your clothes, dust inhalation, and stairs, stairs, and yet more stairs. Learn more about how it all gets done on this laborious #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #122 - Ken's Amazing Notes
A fun grab-bag episode of some of Ken’s favorite stories to tell at lectures and on chat shows. Topics include the JFK assassination, a J. D. Salinger sighting, a narrowly missed Red Sox milestone, and more. Speaking of lectures, we’re delighted to be scheduling live events again. If you’d like to have an item appraised and hear these and other stories in person, you can catch Ken at one of his upcoming speaking engagements throughout New England. View the full lineup here: https://www.brattlebookshop.com/events.
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.
