Allan Appel Photo
Elizabeth Bickley with one of her finds.
A poet picked up a copy of a periodical called Pagany, from the long ago summer of 1930, headlined by verses from William Carlos Williams, for just three bucks.
A Southern philosophy professor, on the prowl for Asian cookbooks, stumbled on Martin Heidegger’s tome about Asian philosophy.
And Elizabeth Bickley, a public space designer, found a Gerard Manley Hopkins, a prose book by W.H. Auden, a collection of poetry by Charles Wright, and two translations of the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen — all for $24.99
Author, Yale prof, host of the podcast Unorthodox, and literary Westvillian Mark Oppenheimer checks out the selection.
Those were some of the thrills of the hunt experienced Thursday night among the aisles and piles of wonderful old books at the opening event for a new bookstore in town, Grey Matter, at 264 York St.
The store is the New Haven edition of Sam Burton’s popular used book store Grey Matter in Hadley, Mass.
After months of unpacking boxes and stocking shelves, and repairing and polishing up an inviting parquet floor, Burton opened his doors for the soft grand opening Thursday night . The city’s bibliophiles, many of whom were already familiar with the Massachusetts store, came to celebrate, prowl, gently haggle about price, buy, and to sell.
The store will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
When you go there, you will meet a young poet named Cameron Brown. Burton has hired him to manage the New Haven store.
Thursday night Brown had had his eyes on John Ashberry’s early collection, Tennis Court Oath (only $8.50).
Book Trader owner Dave Duda came by to offer congratulations, and an appropriate whiskey.
Yale, the landlord, requires stores to stay open until 9. Burton has decided to fill some of those evening hours with readings.
One ambitious writer during Thursday night’s pizza and wine filled reception already left his contact info.
Among those attending the event was Dave Duda, owner of the beloved nearby Book Trader Cafe. He was on hand with congratulations for Burton and a generous bottle of Writer’s Tears whiskey.
Burton’s wife Susan Rees, son Cyril, and Hadley store manager Amelia Adams celebrate.
Duda has been a frequent customer and buyer over the years from Burton’s stock in Hadley, he said. If you arrive in Hadley at an opportune time and your bibliophile chat moves in the right direction, Sam Burton is known to take out a bottle of whiskey and to toast … well, something literary.
Did Duda see the Grey Matter as a rival?
Far from it. “Anything that gets people reading is a good thing,” he said. “It’s more like ‘coopetition’ than competition.”
“That’s a business term,” he added.
Then Duda went on to show a volume by Samuel Beckett, which he discovered and purchased from Burton.
Gilliland, Duda and their finds.
His friend, philosophy professor Rex Gilliland, said that while he looks for books online, “The internet is good and bad. [Here] you’re more likely to come across something surprising.
“Something that a search engine wouldn’t get me to,” said Duda.
For example, Basie Gitlin, who works in development at Yale, found on one of Burton’s shelves So You Want To Open A Shop? by Alissa Keir. You’d be forgiven for not having heard of the book or the author. They’re both from 1930. Gitlin said he was purchasing it to give to his dad, Jay Gitlin, who teaches a course on the history of shopping at Yale.
Basie Gitlin wasn’t sure when he would give the book to his father. But give it he will, he vowed. “Who needs an occasion?!”
The proximity of Yale is, of course, no small reason why Grey Matter is in its location, said Burton’s wife Susan Rees. Then she and son Cyril (when not playing baseball or basketball he’s reading a book by Floridian novelist Carl Hiaasen) headed back to Hadley; it was a school night.
The Hadley store is bigger. It has room for between 30,000 to 50,000 books. The New Haven one has room for 10,000.