SOURCE: Purchased on eBay This is a pretty cool bookmark! I like the design and graphics of this one. Very fitting for a bookshop on Madison Avenue, New York City. Happy to add this to my collection today. Alas my research has revealed that Books & Co. no longer exists. In 1997 The New York Times reported the closure of the bookstore: "The Whitney Museum of American Art, acting as landlord, yesterday rejected a last-minute effort to save Books and Company, sealing the fate of the Upper East Side bookstore that some New York intellectuals consider the city's best because of its eclectic offerings and home-away-from-home atmosphere.The decision followed an 11th-hour proposal by two anonymous admirers of the 20-year-old bookstore to help its owners pay the increased rent. ....for many New Yorkers, Books and Company occupied a special place in their literary life. Founded in 1977, the two-level, brick-walled, wood-shelved store has been best known for its diverse collection of hard-to-find books on philosophy, literature and art, as well as its popular sellers.The store fell on hard times in recent years, hurt by the rise of mass-market retailers like Barnes & Noble, and to a lesser extent by Amazon.Com, the on-line bookstore, said Jeannette Watson, the store's owner." ...and here is a first person account of Books & Co. from an article in The New Yorker by Roxana Robinson: "It was two-storied, and the first floor was slightly below street level. You stepped down to go inside, as though you were entering a student café. The walls were stuffed with books, and in the center of the room was a counter staffed by young geniuses. In the stairwell hung photographs of great authors who had read there, and upstairs were paperbacks: classics, poetry, belles-lettres, and a choice selection of literary porn. Everyone there loved books, and the young geniuses talked about Virginia Woolf or Gabriel García Márquez with equal ease. I gave my first reading here, and, as I looked out at the modest rows of my good friends (the only people who came), I thought I had reached the pinnacle of success: this what I had wanted most...I gave readings at Books & Co. until it closed." | |
2 Comments
Richard Davenport
13/12/2023 03:15:10 am
I stumbled upon this site--I too have books with the same Books & Co. bookmark! I lived in the city for 10 years, and was sorry to see not only this bookstore close but also Madison Avenue Books about five years later, I think.
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Debrah Gai Lewis
13/12/2023 12:51:40 pm
Nice to hear from your RIchard and thanks for telling us about your Books & Co bookmarks and association with it and the ither bookstore. Always sad to see bookstores close!
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the BLOGGERDebrah Gai Lewis lives in Lillian Rock, New South Wales, Australia and is a bookmark collector, yoga teacher and SoulCollage® Facilitator (among other things). ABOUT the blogIn this blog I highlight bookmarks from my collection, feature stories about some of my favourite bookmarks (mine and other people's), and share interesting snippets I find on bookmarks and related topics. Thanks for visiting. Enjoy! BLOG
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