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An interview with MJCBooks

Biblio checks in with MJCBooks to learn more about their book business, collecting interests and more! To view and shop their inventory, click here.


When did you get started in bookselling?

I've sold independently across a couple of platforms in the past, but until recently have been more of an enthusiast and collector.


What drew you to bookselling?

First and foremost, a love of literature and an interest in books from all fields and genres. Generally I sell used books or textbooks, a few rare titles, to enable me to buy other literature and collectors pieces from time to time. It's very much a passion of mine.


Did you have any mentors in becoming a bookseller?

I've traded items online professionally previously including books, vintage items (such as typewriters, watches and jewellery, video games, hi-fi), and run an online marketing wing of a company for a few years. I've dealt for a larger company in second hand electronics with a commendable online presence and reputation, but privately literature is more my forte, so I tend to stick to what i know and love now.


What are your specialties as a dealer?

Hardbacks; this could include textbooks, books of photography, fiction, you name it! I will sometimes sell paperbacks, but generally only out of print or rarer stuff, things that are signed for example.


What's the most amazing book you've ever sold?

Probably a copy of the Secret History, first print, first edition, merchant copy with the receipt inside it still, signed by Donna Tartt. There was only about 1000 of them ever made, and I bought and then sold it privately. It's one of my favourite novels though, which is probably my real reason for picking it :)


What is your favorite part of being a bookseller?

Selling books, and then buying more books. I always hope for that amazing find, one good enough to put on my shelf and admire, but that is very rarely the case, hoarding isn't really my style. Sometimes it's just nice to know where things come from, and to be able to hold a piece of history, as corny as that sounds.


Do you have an open storefront or have you in the past?

I've worked selling online in storefronts, but for larger companies, not my own personal space.


If so, do/did you have any bookstore pets?

No, I have had pets though, cats and dogs (they get on, mostly).


What is the funniest / strangest / scariest thing that ever happened in your store?

N/A


What is your favorite bookshop (other than your own)?

There's a series of small bookshops in Soho in London, that whole area is fantastic, I could spend days there.


What do you personally like to read? Collect?

All sorts. I like hardbacks, out of print, signed and banned books. Things that have made an impact on the world. Fiction wise I like a lot of post-modernist stuff, but honestly i'll read anything. Big fan of: Wilde, Pynchon, Rimbaud, Dylan Thomas, Paul Auster, Alan Moore (I love comics in general). I also love reading textbooks, natural history, computer science, collections of photography or books on art.


What's your favorite book you personally own? Would you sell it, if the price were right?

A tough one. I have a couple of signed books from when I've met authors in the past; David Attenborough, Bret Easton Ellis, Patrick Moore, Ian Rankin. I wouldn't sell them though, as they remind me of those times (apologies!)


What one book would you buy if price were no object?

First edition Don Quixote, preferably signed. Because hey, if money were no object...


If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring three books, what would they be?

Don Quixote, The collected works of William Blake (cheating, but the rules weren't clearly defined), and a book about how to escape desert islands.