A History of Booksellers and the Bookshop

by Jean-Yves Mollier, George Miller (translator)

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 320
Rating:

Synopsis:

A fascinating exploration of the role of the bookseller through the ages.

Across the world and from antiquity to the present day, men and women have enabled authors to disseminate their ideas and knowledge, helping readers to become enriched by their words. Over the centuries, a profession was invented – the bookseller – a role forever renewing to adapt to an ever-changing world.

It is this history of booksellers and bookstores that is traced here. Historian Jean-Yves Mollier guides us through the mysteries of a vital cultural industry that has been at the crossroads between the world of ideas and that of the economy. It is a homage to all booksellers and a book for all book lovers that investigates the twists and turns through time that have led the book into the hands of its reader.

Translated from the French by George Miller.

Jean-Yves Mollier’s A History of Booksellers and the Bookshop is a work in translation from French, and as such it’s not too surprising that it focuses on French bookselling, though I didn’t feel like the blurb on my copy really made that clear. Not that I mind learning more about France and French bookselling, but I’d expected a bit more breadth, rather than just short references to other countries. (Some of which seemed wildly wrong or perhaps mistranslated, like a suggestion that the UK doesn’t really have independent bookshops. Did it just mean in comparison to France, and if so… would it have helped to use some figures here?)

Anyway, it was interesting to read this at the same time as A.J. West’s How Queer Bookshops Changed the World, because they did sometimes mention the same people and events, though it was interesting that Mollier didn’t even allude to the fact that Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier were lesbians and in a relationship, for instance. This was actually important to their work as booksellers!

Overall, I found it a little dry, and the section on modern bookshops felt rushed in comparison to earlier chapters, but it was interesting all the same. If you’re interested in a more general history, well… this one does talk about trends and issues that affected other countries, but almost all from a French perspective, so it probably isn’t what you’re looking for.

I’m a bit torn on rating this, because it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but that doesn’t make it a bad book. I think someone looking for a French history of bookshops would probably rate it higher, but I do always rate on enjoyment (and not on objective measures, even if objective facts play a part), so… here we are.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)