The Diary of a Bookseller

THURSDAY, 29 MAY

Online orders: 5

Books found: 5

A customer appeared at 9.15 a.m. with a fishing waistcoat and an over-groomed moustache, leaned over the counter and pompously asked if we have a section on ‘The Great Game’, as though he was Clive of India.

An elderly couple bought a book on the music of Scotland and commented as they were paying that they had found a hardback book of poetry by Stevie Smith that was £1 when it was published in 1970. They were surprised by ‘how much’ I was selling it for, which, it turns out, was £6. Often when this happens I attempt to explain that not everything goes down in value as it gets older, and in any case it is all relative. If that book were to come out in print today, it would probably be selling for at least £12. John Carter (from whom I bought the shop in 2001) used to reply to customers who accused him of naked profiteering by selling a book that was two and sixpence for £1 that, ‘If you’ve got two and sixpence, you can have it for two and sixpence.’ John was very good to me when I took over the business, and accompanied me on my first few book-buying deals, as well as showing me the ropes for a month before the shop became mine. One of his many pieces of invaluable advice was ‘My motto is the same as the Roman army: SPQR – small profit, quick return.’

At 3.15 p.m. four heavily built American men came in looking for ‘old Bibles’, so I showed them several from various periods going back as far as 1644. They didn’t buy any of them, and all insisted on calling me ‘Sir’.

Till total £271.49

13 customers