Owner Kenneth Gloss on the Brattle Book Shop

The Brattle Book Shop , founded in the Cornhill section of Boston in 1825, has been in the hands of the Gloss Family since 1949. Over the years George and his son Kenneth built this shop into one of the largest antiquarian book shops in the United States. Ken is the current proprietor of The Brattle Book Shop. He is a past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America's New England Chapter. He also sits on the Associate Board of the Boston Public Library. Ken appraises books and libraries for Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, Simmons, Suffolk, Tufts, Babson, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the FBI and others. He lectures on the antiquarian book field to library groups, historical societies and other book-interested groups throughout the New England area. Appearing on numerous local and national television and radio programs, Ken is often featured talking about books and their values. He also has written many articles on appraising books, book collecting and selling. We spoke in the basement of his venerable shop.