Kenneth Gloss holds a picture of himself as a child with his father, working together in the book store.

By Shirley Kawa-Jump

Kenneth Gloss is a rarity: he loves to go to work each day. Handling leather-bound volumes of Shakespeare and first editions of Charles Dickens are part of what fuels his passion for books. Gloss, owner of the Brattle Book Shop in Boston, fills his days weeding through old volumes and texts, looking for pieces of buried treasure.

His parents alleged that his first word was “book.” In fact, it’s easy to believe. The family bought an interest in the shop for $500 the year before he was born. As a child, Gloss helped his father around the shop after school and on weekends. Since its purchase in 1949, the Brattle Book Shop has survived seven moves and a devastating fire in 1981. Today, Gloss is known as one of the foremost authorities in the world of English language old and antique books. His shop has become a frequent stop for collectors everywhere.

“I have always loved the book business,” said Gloss. He admitted it was hard to work with his father, “although I learned a huge amount from him.” Unsure if he wanted to be involved in the family business, after college Gloss was accepted into a PhD program in chemistry. In 1973, he took a year off to help his father and in 1985 when his father was ailing he took over the business. He has never looked back.

He likens his work to the novel Treasure Island. “You never know whom you’re going to meet, what you’re going to see,” he said. He spends a good portion of his time purchasing books, mainly from homes and estate sales. “I enjoy buying from a personal library or a special collection. Even if the books are only worth $2, $5 or $10 apiece, if someone has 500 or 1,000 books, the lot can be worth quite a bit without any of the books being rare or of particular value.” He said he has little trouble selling the books he gets in at his shop. “When you’re dealing with used and rare books, the only limiting factor is what you can get, not what you can sell.”

Kenneth Gloss at one of his free and open popular talks, “Is There Value in Your Old and Rare Books?”

However, Gloss is always on the lookout for “beautifully illustrated, beautifully bound rare editions in fine condition,” on virtually any topic. He also purchases autographs, manuscripts, photos, postcards and magazines. “We don’t buy Book of the Month Club volumes, recent bestsellers, Reader’s Digest Condensed novels or recent social sciences books,” he said. “Other than that we will buy almost any subject or field that interests us. He has made a career out of “specializing in not specializing.”

His bookstore is a haven, not only for collectors, but also for other dealers who often purchase part of a lot from him. He recalled a collection of 2,000 parapsychology books that the owner kept in his basement and sold to Gloss. “The next day, I got calls from all over the world,” he said. Before he could wonder if perhaps there might be some telepathic communication going on, Gloss learned that he had outbid two other dealers and they had referred their customers to him. “It goes to show that if they are the right books for someone, they will hear about the collection and seek us out…even if the books were in a basement,” he added with a laugh.

Since he buys entire collections of books, such as modern fiction or Mark Twain, he often has books in the pile that are not sold in the shop. On dry days they go into the many rolling carts and shelves of books in the adjacent open lot that sell for $1, $3 and $5. Books inside can go up to $100,000. If a book comes in that would be of specific interest to a local non-profit he has been known to donate it as he has over the years to various institutions such as the Newton History Museum or the Larz Anderson Museum. “One of the things I enjoy so much is being able to give,” he said.

Gloss dispenses free advice to people who wonder if they own a rare or valuable book. He recommends that potential sellers make a list with title, author, publisher, date and condition of the books and bring it into the shop or send it in by mail or email. “We’ll go through the list and tell the inquirer those that are valuable. Many times, people try to search the value themselves. There are so many sources and can be a very time-consuming activity,” said Gloss. “I and my staff know this field so well that we can direct them very quickly and give them the answer they need.”

Gloss doesn’t expect everyone who asks for an appraisal to sell their books to him. “A book collection can be a very emotional thing for people. Sometimes, it’s extremely difficult for someone to let go of a collection they’ve had all their lives.” Gloss attests that he “doesn’t collect books personally.” He can still remember the days when his father would bring home four or five books daily, amassing a collection so large, they couldn’t park the car in the garage.

However, he admits that his wife has more than 1,000 books on jazz, and his two daughters each have hundreds of books. In his family’s vanity bathroom, of all places, is a collection of some 300 Victorian books with illustrated covers. The “non-collection” started simply enough: “I found a book called Flushed with Pride: The Life of Thomas Crapper, with a picture of a toilet on the front. I thought it would be fun in the vanity bathroom,” he said. Before he knew it, he had added a book with a big eye on it about the Pinkerton agency. He ended up building shelves to accommodate the growing collection.

Working at the shop 12 hours a day doesn’t leave him much time for his second passion:  reading. “I enjoy reading local history, mystery and science fiction,” he said. He looks forward to vacations on the beach where he can literally “read all day.”

For Gloss, nothing can compare to finding that one rare gem among a pile of well-read hooks. “The feel of it, the artwork, the connection to the author is exciting.” For Ken, the next trip to a home or estate sale might just yield Captain Kidd’s treasure, if he doesn’t have to outbid Long John Silver for it!

The Brattle Book Shop is located at 9 West Street in Boston’s Downtown Crossing section. The website is www.brattlebookshop.com where all scheduled open talks are listed or they can be reached at 617-542-0210 or at 1-800-447-9595. Book appraisals will be given at a home or business by appointment or anytime for those who bring books into the shop.