Two Significant finds in Cincinnati

Next on our map after the first stop of the day on Thursday was a place called Significant Books. I mean, how do you not go to a book store with that name?

Also north and east of downtown Cincinnati, Significant Books was only noticeable because we saw one street-level white door with an "Open" sign and handwritten sign that said "All books 65% off." Enticing, but when a sale is that deep, you know it can't be for good reasons. Upstairs we went.

In our research, we had found some info that Significant Books was a nonfiction store only. And while not entirely true, it is probably at least 90% true. So our shopping was pretty quick -- but fruitful.

We added another Modern Library edition, this one Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley from 1941, for $1.75 after the discount, and then Deborah found Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, published in 1945, in the dollar box, which meant that one was a whopping $0.35.

A couple of interesting things about these two books. First, we are fairly certain that this copy of Brideshead Revisited is the a first U.S. edition copy, which we are very excited about, and on the "open market" it seems to be selling for hundreds of dollars. We'd never sell, because that's not why we buy, but we mention the selling price out there in the world only to say that for $0.35, that seems a bit crazy!

Second, neither of us have yet read Antic Hay or Brideshead Revisited, but in our quick research of Antic Hay, it turns out that Brideshead Revisited actually mentions Antic Hay! Quite a coincidence, and reason enough to read those two back to back someday.

Borrowed from Wikipedia, here is the mention in Brideshead:

"Picture me, my dear, alone and studious. I had just bought a rather forbidding book called Antic Hay, which I knew I must read before going to Garsington on Sunday, because everyone was bound to talk about it, and it's so banal saying you have not read the book of the moment, if you haven't."

Lastly, while checking out, we had the opportunity to meet Significant Books' co-owner, Carolyn Downing. Carolyn is a lovely woman in her late 60s, and in our conversation we learned the reason for the 65% sale... Significant Books is trying to close its doors for good, so everything must go.

After 30 or so years at their current location, and longer than that in the book business, Carolyn and her husband, Bill, are calling it a day due to a multitude of factors (health primary among them), meaning another great used-book store is nearing its end. We certainly wish Bill and Carolyn the best as they move on to some new adventures (likely sometime this summer or by fall), and even though it was only a brief visit and we might not have made it back ever again, we're saddened to know that one of the great stores will no longer be out there.

Good luck, Carolyn and Bill!

Books added: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh; Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley

Publishers (in same order):  Little Brown and Company; Random House, Modern Library

Years: 1945; 1941

Where obtained: Significant Books, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Price: $2.10 for both