Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales [Hardcover]

Each chapter shares a small bit of the vast world of books and booklore, from the first chapter that deals with the immense colleciton of the Library of Congress (as well as their lovable eight-year-old daughter Emily and a missing teddy bear) to the true story of the New England forger Ken Anderson who created quite a to-do with the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Plus, they give much of the history of books, bookfairs, and even a glimpse into the life of writer Max Beerbohm.

This is a wonderful book to read, whether you're into book collecting or not.

I knew the Washington book scene fairly well at one point, and their account is a mixed success. The section on the Library of Congress is nicely done, but they managed to miss the two best bookstores in town: Booked Up, which they knew about but somehow couldn't manage to get into (?), and Andy Moursund's Georgetown Books in Bethesda. Also, although it's true that more people should know about it, I feel their appraisal of the Folger is lame and tame--the Folger always struck me as a really odd museum, consistently barely interesting enough to warrant a visit yet almost ludicrously top-heavy with Shakespeare First Folios. In this day and age, is there any conceivable need to have 79 First Folios in one place? Any independent-minded curator, it seems to me, would divest two-thirds of them to fund a broadening of the collection and an enlivening of the exhibits. (It's also almost anti-conservationist to have all of them together, where they might all be destroyed at one fell swoop by a natural disaster or an act of terrorism. It would be much better for their safety to spread them around a bit.) I would have liked a more critical viewpoint here.

The Goldstones are not only savvier book people now, which is a relief (I found the "Duh, what's a nice book?" tone of "Used and Rare" too benighted), but they're getting to be better writers, too. The set-piece about Bearite is a hoot, and, despite her sparing appearances, Emily is strongly characterized as a sidekick--I really laughed at the vision of her sitting in the audience at sparsely attended book signings asking her parents how long it took them to write their book. I hope she figures more prominently in book #4. Next time, England? Archer? Get going, Goldstones!

Apart from the title of the book, which seems to have no relation to its contents, I have only one complaint: the central story of the New England forger goes on for too long. I was kept interested throughout, but I felt that it could have ended sooner.

Other than that, this is a terrific, quick read, and if you are fans of books and collecting you will not be disappointed.