Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion

New York, NY: Main Street Books , 1997 Main Street Books, New York. 1997. Softcover/Trade Wraps. 2nd Printing by Line Number. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: Near Fine; light bump to rear front lower tip; slight shelf soiling to fore part of textblock bottom. No DJ. Pictorial card stock wraps. Wraps are not ben tor folded; spine is not creased or split; text is secure in binding. 275 pp 8vo. This book chronicles the lives of two young New York women whose passion for learning formed the bond of what would become a lifelong friendship. They give us glimpses of their middle-class upbringing, the widening of their intellectual horizons at Barnard and Columbia, and the exciting start of their rare book business. They describe their finds on annual European book-hunting jaunts, using what they call Finger-Spitzengefuhl - the art of evaluating antiquarian books by handling, experience, and instinct. We are treated to some of their greatest discoveries in postwar Europe, amid the mildewed basements of London's bookstores after the Blitz, in the tiny treasure rooms at the rear of the librairies of Paris; and in places as remote as Tokyo. With their irresistible humor and characteristic savvy, Leona and Madeleine share with us their double lives as writers and independent scholars as they unlock the secrets and hidden stories found in the pages of rare books. A clean very presentable copy.