Boston bookseller’s shopfront • 1827

1827_B-D_shopfront

Depictions of shopfronts usually have the front door closed. Here’s an uncommon glimpse through the doorway — How many figures? One? (The bookseller?) Two? (Customer and child?)

1827_B-D_shopfront_detail

Wood engraving on back wrapper of Sophia Morton (Boston: Bowles and Dearborn, 72 Washington Street, … 1827). Call number: (Ex) in-process.

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About Stephen Ferguson

Stephen Ferguson is Librarian Emeritus, Princeton University Library. He came to Princeton in 1975 to be Curator of Rare Books, after several years of professional work at the John Carter Brown Library (Brown University) and the National Heritage Museum (Lexington, Mass.). Between 2014 and 2026, he held various posts as an Associate University Librarian at Princeton. He has degrees from Bowdoin (A.B.) and Rutgers (M.L.S.). His scholarly interests include book history, provenance research, and the history of collecting. He has taught at Drew University on the latter topic.