What is it really like to work in a bookshop?

When people find out that I work at the Cornstalk Bookshop I see a blank look fall across their face as their mind wanders. They are picturing themselves sitting down in a cosy chair, legs curled underneath them with their favourite book in their lap sipping hot tea occasionally looking up as a customer walks in. Once their imagination settles down they look up and say “Oh, how wonderful! I wish I worked at a bookshop.”

To begin, I don’t drink tea, I drink coffee. It provides me with the necessary kick to get me through the busy day. While I sit down often, I’m not reading a book, I’m in front of the computer cataloguing books or renovating the web site. And when I’m not sitting down, which is about half the time, I take photographs of books, or am lifting heavy boxes of books up and down stairs. This book shop is in a constant state of flux.

Paul is always buying books. There is rarely a day that something new hasn’t been placed on my table for me to catalogue. I never complain unless I can’t see over the pile to help customers as they walk through the door. Sometimes this happens.

After a wonderfully relaxing Easter Break I walked into the shop only to find that Paul had been shopping. Not unusual but this time he had gone overboard. He had filled the whole bottom floor (four rooms!) with boxes of books piled higher than my head with a narrow pathway leading through to the back. At first I had a moment of glee - look at all these books I get to rummage through and then after a split second I thought, look at all these books I have to go through. How long is this going to take?

"You can never have too many books; you can only have too little space." Paul Feain

After a few weeks, Paul and I had been through every single one. It was a really lovely collection of ancient history books. Roman and Egyptian classic writings sprinkled with glossy coffee-table books filled with pages of pyramids, mummies and other artefacts. I got lost in Tutankhamen’s world and was a little sad when it was over.

CARTER, Howard. THE TOMB OF TUT.ANKH.AMEN: Discovered bythe late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter. London, Cassell and Company. 1923 and 1927 both first editions. 231 & 277pp. 17 x 24 cms. Original cloth. Volume one is clean and tight with the gilt lettering and front cover design all bright. Volume two has a small bump to the front cover and a very small tear top the top of the spine (about 3 mms or one tenth of an inch). Still very good copies. Rare to find in first edition and in this condition. A third volume was issued in 1933 and this is not here. $2000