Do you hate it when a mysterious great uncle, whom you’ve never even met, passes away and unexpectedly leaves you his rambling manor, about which dark rumors have circulated in the nearby village for hundreds of years, plus a cobwebbed, candle-lit library of rare works on the occult? Same. You may be thinking, “Welp, better get over there, spend the night, and flip through these books, reading passages aloud at random.” Wait. Why not call the Brattle and find out what you’ve got on your hands? Appraisals are one of our specialties, we’ll never charge you for a casual, verbal appraisal, and, if you can send us photos of the books, we can appraise libraries anywhere in the world. Plus, no matter how much blood you’ve got oozing out of your walls, rest assured—we’ve seen worse!
Brattlecast #103 - National Geographic
While our travel plans may be indefinitely postponed, a good issue of National Geographic can still take us on a vacation of the mind. The long-running magazine is known for its stunning photos, intricate maps, and absorbing reports from fascinating, far-flung locales. In this episode we’ll talk about its history, which issues are considered the most valuable, and even creative reuses for your old copies. While it’s not exactly scaling Annapurna, collecting National Geographic can be something of an adventure in itself.
Brattlecast #102 - Books go to the Movies!
Many zoom users have learned recently that the bookshelves in your background can reveal a lot about your character, but film set designers have always known this. As more movies have been filmed in Boston in recent years, the staff at the Brattle have gotten to see more of their books on the silver screen, and have even worked on-set themselves as book experts. In this episode we’ll talk about the process of pulling together a collection of books to be used as props: making sure they fit the character's field (books on astronomy), state of mind (books on astronomy that have seen better days), and shelves (40 feet of sad astronomy books no taller than 10 inches each). We’ll also talk about the shop's many glamorous brushes with stardom, such as the time we let Michael Douglas park in the sale lot.
Brattlecast #101 - Last Men of the Revolution
One of Ken’s favorite books, The Last Men of the Revolution brings American history vividly to life. During the Civil War, Reverend Elias Hillard tracked down, photographed, and interviewed six surviving veterans of the American Revolution. The men, who had fought in the Revolution as teenagers, were all over 100 years old by that time, although some come across as remarkably witty and spry. Photography itself was only about 30 years old at that time. Their portraits were published along with short biographies in a book intended to promote patriotism at a time when the country had turned on itself. Hillard wrote in his introduction that “History lives only in the persons who created it… As we look upon their faces, as we learn the stories of their lives, it will live again before us, and we shall stand as witnesses of its great actions.”
Brattlecast #100 - The 100th Brattlecast!
Welcome to the 100th episode of #Brattlecast! We’re celebrating by talking about the Brattle’s appraisal of a document so culturally, historically, and monetarily valuable that it featured prominently in a recent Hollywood action movie, opposite co-star Nicholas Cage. But of course the real national treasure is all the fun we’ve had on the podcast, sharing these stories and connecting with our listeners. Thanks for coming on this journey with us—we’re already looking forward to the next 100 episodes!