The Haunted Bookshop

The Haunted Bookshop

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Title: The Haunted Bookshop
Author: Christopher Morley

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THE HAUNTED BOOKSHOP
BY CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

TO THE BOOKSELLERS
Be pleased to know, most worthy, that this little book is dedicated to
you in affection and respect.
The faults of the composition are plain to you all. I begin merely in the
hope of saying something further of the adventures of ROGER
MIFFLIN, whose exploits in "Parnassus on Wheels" some of you have
been kind enough to applaud. But then came Miss Titania Chapman,
and my young advertising man fell in love with her, and the two of
them rather ran away with the tale.
I think I should explain that the passage in




Chapter VIII
, dealing with the delightful talent of Mr. Sidney Drew, was written
before the lamented death of that charming artist. But as it was a

sincere tribute, sincerely meant, I have seen no reason for removing it.
Chapters I, II, III, and VI appeared originally in The Bookman, and to
the editor of that admirable magazine I owe thanks for his permission
to reprint.
Now that Roger is to have ten Parnassuses on the road, I am
emboldened to think that some of you may encounter them on their
travels. And if you do, I hope you will find that these new errants of the
Parnassus on Wheels Corporation are living up to the ancient and
honourable traditions of our noble profession.
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY. Philadelphia, April 28, 1919

The Haunted Bookshop





Chapter I
The Haunted Bookshop
If you are ever in Brooklyn, that borough of superb sunsets and
magnificent vistas of husband-propelled baby-carriages, it is to be
hoped you may chance upon a quiet by-street where there is a very
remarkable bookshop.
This bookshop, which does business under the unusual name
"Parnassus at Home," is housed in one of the comfortable old
brown-stone dwellings which have been the joy of several generations
of plumbers and cockroaches. The owner of the business has been at
pains to remodel the house to make it a more suitable shrine for his
trade, which deals entirely in second-hand volumes. There is no
second-hand bookshop in the world more worthy of respect.
It was about six o'clock of a cold November evening, with gusts of rain
splattering upon the pavement, when a young man proceeded

uncertainly along Gissing Street, stopping now and then to look at shop
windows as though doubtful of his way. At the warm and shining face
of a French rotisserie he halted to compare the number enamelled on
the transom with a memorandum in his hand. Then he pushed on for a
few minutes, at last reaching the address he sought. Over the entrance
his eye was caught by the sign:
PARNASSUS AT HOME R. AND H. MIFFLIN BOOKLOVERS
WELCOME! THIS SHOP IS HAUNTED
He stumbled down the three steps that led into the dwelling of the
muses, lowered his overcoat collar, and looked about.
It was very different from such bookstores as he had been accustomed
to patronize. Two stories of the old house had been thrown into one: the
lower space was divided into little alcoves; above, a gallery ran round
the wall, which carried books to the ceiling. The air was heavy with the
delightful fragrance of mellowed paper and leather surcharged with a
strong bouquet of tobacco. In front of him he found a large placard in a
frame:
THIS SHOP IS HAUNTED by the ghosts Of