"Equip yourselves for the greatest of all adventures – for this is what bookselling really is.”
Oleander is delighted to present a wonderful slice of local history, the contents of which were, and still are, applicable to bookselling everywhere - even on the internet (although the lecture on dusting may not be quite so pertinent). Instructions to the Young Bookseller is the transcript of a fascinating, amusing and somewhat poignant address to apprentice booksellers in 1933 by Ernest Heffer, Chairman of the world-famous Cambridge bookshop.
“I know that last night’s dance, when Mabel slipped down and pulled you with her, was a most momentous affair; but it does not belong to your business life. So keep the two things quite distinct. The present job is to check and mark off the books before you. Concentrate on that – Mabelling can come after the shop is closed.”
Oleander is delighted to present a wonderful slice of local history, the contents of which were, and still are, applicable to bookselling everywhere - even on the internet (although the lecture on dusting may not be quite so pertinent). Instructions to the Young Bookseller is the transcript of a fascinating, amusing and somewhat poignant address to apprentice booksellers in 1933 by Ernest Heffer, Chairman of the world-famous Cambridge bookshop.
“I know that last night’s dance, when Mabel slipped down and pulled you with her, was a most momentous affair; but it does not belong to your business life. So keep the two things quite distinct. The present job is to check and mark off the books before you. Concentrate on that – Mabelling can come after the shop is closed.”
