The
Antique Book World Meets The Real World
Sheila Markham in conversation with Bernard
Shapero
I’m 100% a book person. People might not like my style and moan about
my having a shop, an auction house and now a magazine. But at the end
of the day, all my activities help to promote the trade. If I can create
more book collectors, that’s good news for everybody.
I never regretted becoming a bookseller, but I wish that I had been
to university. Maybe I have a rosy picture of student life, but sometimes
it feels as if I had my youth taken away. I sold my first book in my
bedroom when I was still a child. Edith Finer’s shop in Finchley Road
was round the corner from my parents’ house. There were also lots of
bookshops for me to visit in nearby Hampstead. I went to school in Highgate,
which was very convenient for popping into Fisher & Sperr. I think that
I gave the impression of someone who just wanted to get on with it.
I certainly didn’t want anyone to take this little schoolboy under their
wing. To my parents, bookselling seemed a nice thing to do. I wasn’t
particularly academic and they didn’t object when I left school at sixteen.
My ambition was to climb the ladder, selling increasingly expensive
books. If you love books, you want to handle the best. In September
1979 I took my first stand at Gray’s Antique Market. It was a great
place to start because it gave me freedom I could close the stand
whenever I liked; it was very central; everyone passed through and I
met some really good customers. The world was my oyster. At the age
of eighteen I went to Paris with Chris Dennistoun. Nowadays there are
hundreds of booksellers trawling Paris everyday. But in the early ‘80s
booksellers would go perhaps once or twice a year. There were no runners
operating between London and Paris. We saw the gap and filled it.
After ten years in Gray’s, the business had outgrown two large stands
and an office. Someone told me that Peter Eaton’s shop in Holland Park
Avenue was for sale. I talked to Margaret and we did a deal in 1989.
I had served my time at Gray’s and it was time to move on. Gray’s had
been brilliant for learning the trade and building up the business,
but it was beginning to limit our expansion. We moved into the Eatons’
shop and, to my embarrassment, found that my entire stock only filled
a few shelves. It took a bit of time to stock up, but then we really
began to move forward. I took on Lucinda Boyle and Christine Thomson,
who have been with me ever since. Julian MacKenzie joined us in 1992.
By 1996 I was looking to expand the business on to another level. I
discussed some ideas with Tommaso Zanzotto, one of my customers who
was a businessman. He was interested in joining forces and, after a
series of negotiations, we came up with a deal and formed a holding
company called Stocklight Ltd. Tommaso found our present shop in Saint
George Street, opposite the back door of Sotheby’s. It was available
with the freehold, but I was very reluctant to take it on. In fact I
gave him a long speech about why we shouldn’t move. He congratulated
me on a fantastic speech and said, ‘I understand that you don’t want
to move. The deal’s off’, to which I replied, ‘Let’s move!’ Thankfully
he demanded it, and I was prepared to acquiesce.
Apart from Shapero Rare Books, we now own Antiquarian Book monthly,
Bloomsbury Book Auctions, The Shapero Gallery in Holland Park Avenue
and www.printgalleries.com,
a website selling prints, maps, photographs, drawings and watercolours,
with 2,000 images online. (The site’s not quite finished yet.) When
we were looking to expand, the obvious move was to buy an auction house.
By there own admission, Lord John Kerr and Frank Herrmann aren’t getting
any younger, so BBA was the natural target. I approached them and they
were quite receptive to the idea. We had our ups and downs during the
negotiations, but finally we won through.
When people offer me books or collections that aren’t suitable for the
shop, I don’t have to turn them away anymore I can pass them on to
BBA. On the Continent, there are many dealers who are also auctioneers.
It widens the service that you can offer to customers. Why not ask Rupert
Powell if you want to know about BBA? He’s 100% in charge.
About a year ago, Antiquarian Book monthly rang and said that
they would like to interview me. I replied that I would like to buy
them. Lynne Thomas and Steven Halliwell took some persuading, but we
got there. The new magazine will be launched in February at the California
Book fair in Los Angeles. Lynne is Managing Director and Steven is Editor
at Large. My wife, Emma Lewis, who is also a script editor, is the magazine’s
new Editor.
The new ABm will be more of a lifestyle magazine than something
just aimed at book people. We’re changing the name to the Antiquarian
Book Review, and it will be in full colour, with the usual features
and many innovations. This is where the antique book world meets the
real world, and the response from advertisers has already been amazing.
Our lead article for the first issue will be a specially commissioned
piece on Hollywood’s perception of the book trade, with Humphrey Bogart
on the cover instead of the usual manuscript leaf. We hope that the
new magazine will draw in people, who might not usually read something
about rare books.
Wherever I go, I’m thinking about the magazine, the shop, the gallery,
the auction house, and the website. Business takes up all of my time,
and more. We all get stressed out, but I can put things behind me. If
I leave the shop in the evening really annoyed about something, by the
morning it’s over. I make mistakes all the time, but you have to move
on. Having a family is a big commitment. We have three children and
I want to devote time to them. Obviously I made that choice, and they
are my proudest achievement. Any ambitions left? Sheila, I’ve just begun.
See that flag across the road. What name’s on it? Sotheby’s. What name
should be on it? Shapero’s. Exactly.
Interviewed for The Bookdealer in February 2002