The word “charming” doesn’t do justice to this amusing, absorbing and at times poignant book about antiquarian booksellers.

As Oliver Darkshire demonstrates over the 200+ pages of ONCE UPON A TOME, “Our imagined status as mysterious guardians of all knowledge leads people to treat booksellers as terrestrial genies, spiriting up the answer to any problem from the bottom of our fusty old pockets.”

"The word 'charming' doesn’t do justice to this amusing, absorbing and at times poignant book about antiquarian booksellers."

Sotheran’s, the bookshop where Darkshire worked, was founded in 1761 and moved to Sackville Street near Piccadilly Circus the same year as the Battle of Waterloo, 1815. The store, laid out on three floors, is crowded not only with old and rare books, but also with engravings, magazines, maps and antique bric-a-brac, including a “cursed lectern” and a faded owl.

Having fled an administrative job in a legal firm to avoid being fired, 20-year-old Darkshire joined the staff as a bookseller apprentice. He had no intention of remaining there for long, but ended up staying for a decade, during which time he managed to earn a master’s degree in the History of the Book. He also attended book conferences in York and visited untended libraries in crumbling mansions and storage cellars in Kings Cross, as well as other rare bookshops to return borrowed hat stands. Though he has since left the store, he still maintains its Twitter account (@Sotherans, which has a sizable following).

Darkshire talks about the different kinds of collectors, usually divided between omnivores (Smaugs) and the more focused Draculas; how the internet has changed the valuation process; and how to deal with a range of difficult customers, from “cryptids” (lurkers) to marauding teens. The result is a memoir that, while filled with delightful anecdotes, also explains what a bookseller’s job entails and why books (especially rare ones) matter.

Some might argue that a few more examples of “finds” --- first editions, one-of-a-kind books --- would have enhanced ONCE UPON A TOME. But Darkshire’s humorous descriptions of his colleagues and surroundings are reason enough to pick up this tome.