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Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion
Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion | Leona G Rostenberg
16 posts | 3 read | 20 to read
Louisa May Alcott once wrote that she had taken her pen for a bridegroom. Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, friends and business partners for 50 years, have taken up their pens and passion for literature in much the same way. Described as the "Holmes and Watson" of the rare book business, Rostenberg and Stern - in addition to many other extraordinary discoveries in their lifetime of literary sleuthing - unlocked the secret of Louisa May Alcott's hidden life when they discovered her pseudonym, A. M. Barnard, and her anonymously published "blood-and-thunder" stories. "Old Books, Rare Friends" chronicles the lives of two young New York women whose passion for learning formed the bond of what would become a lifelong friendship. Madeleine and Leona give us glimpses of their middle-class upbringing, the widening of their intellectual horizons at Barnard and Columbia, the exciting start of their rare book business. They describe their finds on annual European book-hunting jaunts, using what they call Finger-Spitzengefuhl - the art of evaluating antiquarian books by handling, experience, and instinct. We are treated to some of their greatest discoveries in postwar Europe, amid the mildewed basements of London's bookstores after the Blitz, in the tiny treasure rooms at the rear of the librairies of Paris; and in places as remote as Tokyo. With their irresistible humor and characteristic savvy, Leona and Madeleine share with us their double lives as writers and independent scholars as they unlock the secrets and hidden stories found in the pages of rare books.
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Lynnsoprano
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Books. Friends. Relationships built around a love of books. That‘s what Litsy means to me. I know Litfluence is just a number, but this one jumped out at me. The last almost 3 years have been special because so many of you have become part of my life and my family. I love you all 😘

MicheleinPhilly ❤️ 5y
Clwojick Yay! Congratulations! We love having you here, and love seeing your lovely posts! ♥️ 5y
AsYouWish Yay!!! Congrats!!!! 5y
See All 26 Comments
Djspens Nice! 5y
erzascarletbookgasm 👏❣️ 5y
BethM 🎉we love you too! 5y
JoScho 🥳💜🥳💜🥳💜🥳 5y
tournevis 💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺 5y
Blueberry !!!!! 5y
julesG 👏👏👏🎉 5y
Redwritinghood 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎊 5y
Lindy 🎉❤️👏 5y
AmyG Yay! 🎉🎉🎉 5y
Kalalalatja Woohoo! 5y
Erofan Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉 5y
Megabooks 🥳🥳🥳🥳🍾🥂 5y
mrp27 🎉🎉🎉 5y
LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 5y
Mollyanna Congrats 🎉🍾🎉 5y
BookwormAHN Congratulations 👏🏻 5y
Lcsmcat 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 5y
Jas16 🎉📚👏 5y
kspenmoll Congrats! Such a lovely message! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🎉🎉🎉 5y
Crazeedi Congrats Lynn! What an amazing achievement! It's been so great to get to know you and all the wonderful littens!! 5y
Izai.Amorim Congratulations! 5y
60 likes26 comments
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RiaWritten
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Also! A dear, dear friend of mine sent me these candles for my birthday (which is in a couple of weeks) and they are beautiful and smell divine. 😻

ephemeralwaltz Yummy! 5y
22 likes1 comment
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Kshakal
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Tiyas7
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The smell of old books😢😣💓

#oldbooks #grammared

CindyE09 😂😂😂 6y
Jimmyash Brilliant!😂 6y
JoScho ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
53 likes4 comments
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rubyslippersreads
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Catching up on the #oldcoolbooks challenge, hosted by @Linsy 😊📚😊 See her page for details.

Linsy 😁 6y
59 likes1 comment
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EadieB
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Another pile of old book. Faulkners belonged to my dad. #oldcoolbooks #nakedbooks

batsy Wow! So cool. 6y
AmyG Ooooooo Faulkner. ❤️ 6y
Linsy Lovely! I read As I Lay Dying in high school and just thought: What the heck? This is so depressing and confusing! I reread it in college and loved it! I also got a lot more out of it, lol. What a collection! 6y
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andrew61 Lovely books - great photo 6y
ReadZenRites 💕💕 6y
SleepyDragon Light in August is on my TBR short list. 6y
LeahBergen Cool! 6y
87 likes7 comments
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Julsmarshall
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@Linsy is doing a fun photo challenge! Check out her page for details! I‘m not traveling much this month and hope to play along! #OldCoolBooks #challenge #giveaway

Linsy Happy to have you! 💕 6y
45 likes1 comment
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SaraPortman
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I love old books, especially when I can justify my purchases as research. Here‘s one of my latest, picked up on a trip to Boston. It‘s full of illustrations of the region that is the setting for the book I‘m currently writing. The binding is so beautiful, even if a little worn. #rarebooks

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Citymouse
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#riotgrams Someone else‘s books. Here‘s a shelf from the historic house where my brother is getting married tomorrow.

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bookdrunkard78
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Two ladies who were friends well into their #GoldenYears and shared an enthusiasm for old books #Septembowie

Cinfhen OMG!!! I'm in love 😍 check this out @laurabeth ~ that could be us in what, 10 years?!!😂😂 7y
LauraBeth Oh I HOPE so! ❤️ 7y
emilyhaldi LOL ❤️ this! 😂 7y
readinginthedark This is so awesome, like the Two Guys Series! 7y
bookdrunkard78 @readinginthedark I hadn't heard of that one! I'll have to check it out! 7y
38 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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merelybookish
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Did some use bookstore browsing today and found this: Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship. (Not in database.) It's a sequel to Old Books, Rare Friends. Anyone read these? They're about women who worked in the rare book business. Thought it might be a bit like 84, Charing Cross Rd.
Cover is very faint. Resorted to the bathroom for decent light. 😐

CherylDeFranceschi ❤️Looks like a brilliant find! 7y
merelybookish Yes. I thought so, too. And it wasnt an awesome bookstore so it really stood out. 😊 7y
LeahBergen I have Old Books, Rare Friends but it's still TBR. 😬 7y
avalinah Sounds very interesting 🙂 7y
54 likes4 comments
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bookdrunkard78
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#bookhaul 2 All the #Gaiman and a book I've been wanting for awhile... Amazon gift cards are the best!

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callunakeep
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I just want to welcome my friend, the awesome @rivergirl314 to Litsy! She has been listening to me sing the praises of this community and now that it is open to Android she has come to join us!! 👏🏻🎉

Maike Welcome @rivergirl314 🎉🎉 7y
17 likes1 comment
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Aleida

Just curious. What were you favorite books from the 80s and 90s? Authors? Book covers?

Aleida Anyone? 7y
9 likes1 comment
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LeahBergen
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Pickpick

Here's my author collaboration choice; a story of an amazing, lifelong friendship between two antiquarian book dealers and scholars. They were the discoverers of Louisa May Alcott's pseudonym, under which she wrote her "sensational" tales. #augustofpages #bookphotochallenge @TheSpinecrackersBookClub #booksaboutbooks

48 likes13 stack adds