Friedrichs Horst A., Husband S., Bookstores: A Celebration of Independent Booksellers, Prestel, Munich (etc.) 2020, pp. 238 + illustrations after text, dimensions 24.5 x 28.5 cm. Numerous illustrations, text in English. Publisher's half cloth cover. Minor rubbing, soiling of the cover.
In this book photographer Horst A. Friedrichs opens the door to the world of stationary bookstores, showcasing their diversity, quirkiness and vitality through rich photographs. He celebrates the passion and commitment of the owners with interviews and anecdotes. Learn about William Stout Books, a specialty architecture and art book store in San Francisco, and Baldwin's Book Barn in Pennsylvania, a 5-story bookstore housed in a dairy barn that has been open since the mid-1940s. Discover Gay's the Word, the UK's first and only bookstore dedicated to LGBTQI, and Livraria Lello, whose Art Deco interior is a temple to reading in the middle of Porto, Portugal. Some of the featured bookstores specialize in a particular genre, some are huge with vaulted ceilings, some are tiny and filled to the brim with books, some are housed in historic buildings that evoke another time and place, and some are brand new, high-tech, architect-designed spaces. What all the bookstores have in common is that they are all committed to spreading the written word in their communities. This is the perfect book for anyone who loves to read, browse or just hang out in the analog world of books and bookstores.
