I exercised great control on this visit and only bought five titles (!):
Happy Days 1880-1892 - HL Mencken - Knopf 1940 - $3.50
Appetite for Life - The biography of Julia Child - Noel Fitch - Anchor Books 1999 - $4
Drawn From Life - The journalism of William Makepeace Thackeray - Selected,edited and with an Introduction by Margaret Forester - The Folio Society 1984 - Slipcase - $7.50
Sara Midda's South of France - A Sketchbook - Workman Publishing - 1990 - $3.50
Total - $20.50 - a bargain!
If you are ever in this part of the world do not miss this amazing, fascinating and magical bookstore. Expect to stay at least two hours...........
Rodgers Book Barn
467 Rodman Road, Hillsdale, NY 12 529
www.rodgersbookbarn.com
Hours:
April 1 - October 31 - Thursday to Monday 11-5
November 1 - March 31 - Friday to Monday 11-5
Report on my previous visits.
And here is a piece from the New York Times 20 years ago (!) :
Sunday Outing; For Book Lovers, Paradise in a Rural Setting -By HAROLD FABER - NYT - Published: December 29, 1991
"I like to have people enjoy themselves," said Maureen Rodgers, who has operated the Book Barn for the last 19 years. "I like the idea that you can come in here, spend two or three hours browsing, and leave with some books, spending only $10."
Despite the store's rural location, readers go out of their way to find it because of its large and relatively inexpensive selection of out-of-print books. Ms. Rodgers has an eclectic stock of 50,000 used books, most of them priced from 25 cents to about $10, although some rare books range as high as $400. In the 25-cent corner, for example, one can find Hedrick Smith's "The Russians." Nearby are old pages of Harper's Weekly, full of beautiful engravings, for $2. On a table of recent acquisitions, not yet classified, is E. B. White's "Essays" for $2.50 and an "Atlas of Discovery" for $10. Surprises, Surprises.
And from The New Yorker July 20, 2010
As used bookstores go, Rodgers Book Barn might not have the instant name recognition of, say, The Strand, but what it lacks in branded tote bags it more than makes up for in charm. Located three hours north of Manhattan in Hillsdale, New York—a town that's at least as bucolic as its name suggests—the Book Barn does not, it's safe to say, rely on foot traffic to drive sales. Indeed, part of the fun of a visit is in finding the place at all; in this way, it's a bit like those trendy restaurants and cocktail bars in new York that don't list their phone numbers, though that's surely where the similarities end. In order to get there, you have to pass through Hillsdale's town center, turn left at a horse farm—blink and you'll miss the unprepossessing sign that says "Book Barn-4 miles"—and continue down a winding, heavily-wooded road until you're absolutely sure you've made a wrong turn. Then, suddenly, there it is: a ramshackle old building tucked into a leafy clearing.
Inside, the low ceilings and small, winding rooms create an enchanting, warrenlike atmosphere. It's the kind of place you half expect to find a talking rabbit wearing a monocle and vest and reading by candlelight. Though space is at a premium, idling is explicitly encouraged. You can curl up in one of the cozy armchairs nestled between the stacks, or help yourself to some surprisingly good coffee from the single-serve machine upstairs, a detail much appreciated by this caffeine-deprived blogger on my recent visit, since the closest decent cup was otherwise about twenty miles down the road.
Owner Maureen Rodgers estimates that she has some fifty thousand books in her collection, all of which are priced at a few dollars a piece. It is nearly impossible to leave without at least a few books in hand. With a wide array of fiction, criticism, memoir, biography and history, Rodgers jokes that the Book Barn has everything, "but never the book you want." Rodgers used to sell out-of-print books to college libraries out of a loft near Chambers St. "Of course, that was when you could get a loft for a hundred dollars a month," Rodgers says. She first set up shop in the woods in 1972 as a way to make money in the slow summer months, but decided to stay put. "I liked that I didn't have to do as much paperwork," she says.
If ever you find yourself in this neck of the woods—or even if you don't—be sure to stop by.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/07/book-barn.html#ixzz1iEZgtCvN
Despite the store's rural location, readers go out of their way to find it because of its large and relatively inexpensive selection of out-of-print books. Ms. Rodgers has an eclectic stock of 50,000 used books, most of them priced from 25 cents to about $10, although some rare books range as high as $400. In the 25-cent corner, for example, one can find Hedrick Smith's "The Russians." Nearby are old pages of Harper's Weekly, full of beautiful engravings, for $2. On a table of recent acquisitions, not yet classified, is E. B. White's "Essays" for $2.50 and an "Atlas of Discovery" for $10. Surprises, Surprises.
And from The New Yorker July 20, 2010
A Visit to The Book Barn
Inside, the low ceilings and small, winding rooms create an enchanting, warrenlike atmosphere. It's the kind of place you half expect to find a talking rabbit wearing a monocle and vest and reading by candlelight. Though space is at a premium, idling is explicitly encouraged. You can curl up in one of the cozy armchairs nestled between the stacks, or help yourself to some surprisingly good coffee from the single-serve machine upstairs, a detail much appreciated by this caffeine-deprived blogger on my recent visit, since the closest decent cup was otherwise about twenty miles down the road.
Owner Maureen Rodgers estimates that she has some fifty thousand books in her collection, all of which are priced at a few dollars a piece. It is nearly impossible to leave without at least a few books in hand. With a wide array of fiction, criticism, memoir, biography and history, Rodgers jokes that the Book Barn has everything, "but never the book you want." Rodgers used to sell out-of-print books to college libraries out of a loft near Chambers St. "Of course, that was when you could get a loft for a hundred dollars a month," Rodgers says. She first set up shop in the woods in 1972 as a way to make money in the slow summer months, but decided to stay put. "I liked that I didn't have to do as much paperwork," she says.
If ever you find yourself in this neck of the woods—or even if you don't—be sure to stop by.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/07/book-barn.html#ixzz1iEZgtCvN
No comments:
Post a Comment