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

“Old Books, Rare Friends” is the story of two remarkable women who became antiquarian booksellers and experts but most of all, who became and stayed true friends for their entire lives. I fell head over heels in love with these two through the course of this autobiography/memoir which took each from their early childhoods through their halcyon days as their rare book business expanded and grew, and finally to old age with their curiosity and enthusiasm as fresh as when they were young.

Leona Rostenberg charted her own course through her doctoral studies, refusing to follow the path urged upon her by her thesis supervisor (who sabotaged her, in the end). She felt the influence of early printers had shaped the society of their show more respective eras and set out to prove it, researching in Strasbourg before the Second World War. This research would provide the basis for a profound knowledge of printing houses, the books they produced and the authors they fostered. Leona was possessed of that instinct dubbed “Finger-Spitzengefül”, a kind of tingling in the fingers which tells you that you are about to discover something rare and wonderful.

Madeleine Stern became a biographer (her first about Margaret Fuller) with a propensity for detailed and painstaking research. She discovered that Louisa May Alcott had had a secret life as a writer of “blood and thunder” novels which paid her and enabled her to provide support for her family. She succeeded in getting a Guggenheim fellowship so that she could research Alcott on a full-time basis and eventually broke through the secret identity to reveal Alcott’s alternative pen name, astonishing the academic world which had previously overlooked the clues. With their eye for detail and their Sherlockian instincts, they were perfect candidates to become expert at finding rare and difficult to find books.

Their deep love for each other informs every page of this book, making their work and explorations a joy. Hardworking, energetic, extraordinarily intelligent and perceptive, these two appear to have left the book lovers’ world a better place for their having been here. A charming book by two delightful characters. How I wish I could have known them! show less

This was a very interesting account of the literary sleuthing lives of two remarkable women. Underlying their mutual love of old and rare books was so much knowledge of world history, literature, languages and art that I was often more impressed by their ability to know what they had discovered than by the treasure itself. Imagine picking up a 16th century volume of sermons by Martin Luther, seeing the woodcut portrait on the title page, and having the mental historical resources to suspect that this might be the earliest portrait of Luther in existence.
In addition to being internationally respected collectors and sellers of antiquarian books, the authors were both prolific writers. Rostenberg and Stern each had their own areas of show more specialization, but they also often collaborated on books about their trade in general, and their own experiences in it in particular. Leona Rostenberg researched and wrote throughout her life on the history of publishing and printing. Madeleine Stern became widely known as an authority on the literary "double life" of Louisa May Alcott, editing several collections of Alcott's so-called "blood and thunder" pot-boiler stories, which she tracked down in their original publications in an endeavor quite worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
February 2009 show less

This was a somewhat dry but sweet look at a lasting platonic (as both ladies point out!) friendship based on their love of books and scholarly pursuits. Madeleine and Leona take turns telling their story about their life in books.

Madeleine Stern was a teacher and author who loved doing research for the biographies she wrote. She had heard some rumors about Louisa May Alcott when she was working on a book about her. With a little detective work, she discovered that Alcott followed in the footsteps of her heroine Jo March and wrote some "blood and thunder" tales that helped pay the bills. This was my favorite part of the book as the mystery unfolded: "...Louisa May Alcott had indeed produced a corpus of deviational narratives. She might show more have hidden the details of her double literary life, but she had scattered through her letters and her journals and even in Little Women itself a plethora of clues. I needed to don my deerstalker, take up my magnifying glass, and embark on the hunt." (117)

Leona Rostenberg had her own literary adventure when she discovered the serialized installments of Charles Dickens' Master Humphrey's Clock scattered around a barn when she was looking for books to sell in her fledgling rare books business. She bought these mouse-chewed papers for sixty cents at the auction she was attending.

Madeleine was growing tired of teaching and decided to join her best friend in the antiquarian book store. They spent much of their time traveling around to find books, including a poignant journey to post-war Europe. They thrived in each other's company pursuing their passion for books. This was an enlightening joint autobiography and one that most bibliophiles would enjoy reading. show less

Two members of the Greatest Generation recall their lives with books and each other. Leona Rostenberg and Madeline Stern seem to have embodied the idea of the Antiquarian book dealer. Knowledgeable, intensely inquisitive, and in love with books not for their investment value but for their significance to history and society, both women write about their academic and book discoveries with a contagious sort of excitement. You can tell as you read that these women loved their jobs, and what's not to love about discovering a goldmine of pseudonymous wild tales from the author of Little Women, or coming across one of the earliest volumes of Americana to ever exist in a British catalog for a fraction of its value?

The world as it was when show more Rostenberg and Stern were hitting eureka after eureka in the postwar attics of Europe are long gone, but as long as there are people like Leona Rostenberg and Madeline Stern in the world, the love of books and discovery will never die. show less

A biography of two real characters! I would never have imagined that I would find a book about two old ladies who I had never heard of so unputdownable. I enjoyed this book about books so much that I started searching out the author's other books and found not all of them so well written or enjoyable as this one. I couldn't even slog through the first chapter of [b:The Life of Margaret Fuller: A Revised, Second Edition|2330119|The Life of Margaret Fuller A Revised, Second Edition (Contributions in Women's Studies)|Madeleine B. Stern|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266736738s/2330119.jpg|2336683].

A biography of two real characters! I would never have imagined that I would find a book about two old ladies who I had never heard of so unputdownable. I enjoyed this book about books so much that I started searching out the author's other books and found not all of them so well written or enjoyable as this one. I couldn't even slog through the first chapter of [b:The Life of Margaret Fuller: A Revised, Second Edition|2330119|The Life of Margaret Fuller A Revised, Second Edition (Contributions in Women's Studies)|Madeleine B. Stern|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266736738s/2330119.jpg|2336683].

I wanted to read this book as extension of my study of Louisa May Alcott. I expected the discovery of Alcott's sensational stories to have a bigger place in the book. I had read Madeleine Stern's biography of LMC. Most other LMC biographies are at least partially based on hers.

Leona and Madeleine switch off telling their story. At times I got confused about who did what. After they start their book business most of the stories are about how they found certain obscure rare books. In the beginning I was fascinated, but after a while it sounded all the same. It struck me that they found most rare books by simply remembering a small, to the layman insignificant, fact. How these two women must have studied to know enough to get the show more Fingerspitzen gefuhl (sensitive fingertips= intuition) they talk about. I really admired them. I also had never thought that there was a feminist slant to rare books, but there obviously is.

I enjoyed reading most of the book, but lost interest in the last quarter of it. show less