BOSTON — Brattle Book Shop’s outdoor book lot occupies the site of a disaster that nearly ended its West Street chapter. After a fire destroyed the store in the 1980s, community support helped the business buy the neighboring storefront and resume operations within a month, according to the Boston Preservation Alliance.
That recovery is one part of a history stretching back to 1825. Through downtown redevelopment, repeated relocations and decades of Gloss family ownership, Brattle has remained a place for both inexpensive used books and rare editions. Its three-story downtown shop now holds more than 250,000 items, including books, maps, postcards and prints, according to the store.
The business traces its beginnings to Boston’s Cornhill neighborhood. The Preservation Alliance places its original storefront on the vanished Brattle Street, in the area now occupied by City Hall. Redevelopment forced several relocations during the 1960s before the bookstore settled on West Street.
A 2015 Literary Hub profile described seven locations in the store’s history under Ken Gloss, along with fires and a crane mishap. The outdoor sales area, now a distinguishing feature of the business, emerged from the destruction of its earlier West Street building.
A family purchase kept the doors open
The store faced another threat before those physical upheavals: By 1949, it was headed toward closure. According to Literary Hub, newlyweds George and Dorrit Gloss combined their funds to purchase a half-interest for $500. They became the sole owners the following year, when their son Ken was born.
The family has owned the business since that initial investment. The shop credits George and Ken with developing it into one of the country’s largest antiquarian bookstores, a description also used by the Preservation Alliance.
Ken Gloss began helping his father at age 5, according to his PBS biography, and started working at the store full time in 1973. He told Literary Hub that he initially expected to spend a year running the business before pursuing a doctorate in chemistry. Instead, he stayed.
From outdoor bargains to rare editions
The store’s layout accommodates different kinds of buyers. General used books fill two floors, while the third houses rare and collectible material, including first editions and leather-bound volumes. Outside, the lot provides another browsing area.
In the 2015 interview, Gloss described outdoor carts offering books for $1, $3 and $5, available throughout the year when weather allowed. He also described estate purchases as a substantial source of stock, with some acquisitions reaching tens of thousands of volumes. Those purchases supplied a business handling both low-priced reading copies and expensive collectibles.
Gloss’s work extends beyond the store. PBS identifies him as an appraiser for university collections, including those at Harvard, Boston University and Boston College. He also gives talks to libraries and historical organizations across New England and appears on “Antiques Roadshow.”
On West Street, the bookstore’s physical arrangement still reflects its recovery from the fire: shelves inside the neighboring building it acquired, and books for sale outdoors where the earlier shop once stood.
