Concerning the Proprietor

The shop has had one keeper for as long as anyone has thought to ask, and the keeper has never much cared to correct the assumption that this is unusual. Visitors describe someone older than they expected, or younger, rarely the same age twice, always dressed as though for a funeral that has already been attended.

The proprietor does not loan books. This is stated plainly on a small card by the till, in handwriting that changes very slightly from one printing to the next. Volumes are sold, once, to whoever asks the right question about them — not the price, which is negotiable, but the question that shows the asker has actually read the description in the catalogue and understood what they were buying.

Hours are irregular and not posted, on the theory that a shop worth finding will be found regardless, and a shop not worth finding should probably stay lost. The proprietor keeps a small dog of indeterminate breed, several ledgers older than any nearby cemetery, and a policy of answering every letter eventually — see correspondence for what "eventually" tends to mean in practice.