Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship

by Madeleine B. Stern, Leona Rostenberg

"Bookends is a chronicle of the cultural changes of twentieth-century American life and a loving farewell to the golden age of book collecting. Filled with wisdom and humor, this volume is a tribute to Rostenberg and Stern's passion for the written word - and for life itself."--BOOK JACKET.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Friendship, Autobiography, Womens

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Madeleine Bettina Stern was an independent scholar and rare book dealer. She graduated from Barnard College in 1932 with a B.A. in English literature. She received her M.A. in English literature from Columbia University in 1934. Stern was particularly known for her work on the writer Louisa May Alcott. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1943 to write a biography of Alcott, which was eventually published in 1950. In 1945, she and her friend Leona Rostenberg opened Rostenberg & Stern Books. Rostenberg and Stern were active members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, at a time when few women were members. The pair lived and worked in Rostenberg's house in the Bronx. They were known for creating unique rare book catalogs. In 1960, Stern helped found the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.
Stern and Leona Rostenberg became widely known in the late 1990s while in their late eighties when their memoir on the rare book trade, Old Books, Rare Friends, became a best seller.

Reviews

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about these two pioneering women and best of friends who made a living in the rare book trade in the 1900s.

[Stuart Endick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treat for those who have read the authors’ previous memoir Old Books, Rare Friends about their long shared lives and partnership as antiquarian book dealers, independent scholars, and literary sleuths. This sequel presents a fuller and interesting picture of their personal lives and experiences, and in so doing is evocative of the periods through which they lived. While the book should be enjoyable reading for any book collector, is also a fascinating story of two accomplished friends forging their way in the rare book world.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a friendship biography of two women who are some of the best rare book dealers ever, along with pretty amazing literary scholars (Stern discovered Louisa May Alcott's blood and thunder tales). However, the book itself was somewhat disappointing. I wanted to hear more about the books!

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A joint autobiography written by two female bibliophiles who became lifelong friends and famed antiquarian booksellers. Not as good as their earlier “Old & Rare” but Rostenberg and Stern’s lives are interesting enough to cover twice.

[Wanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors of this book are long-time booksellers who have operated a business together for many years, as well as co-authoring a number of books on their experiences in buying and selling books. Nicholas Basbanes, illustrating the precept that blurb-writers often don’t read the book, says on the back that “a new memoir from them relating their further adventures in the trade is a cause for great celebration.” Yes, their past books were their “adventures in the trade,” but this book is a joint memoir about their childhoods, educations, and the paths that eventually brought them together.

The book works best as childhood memoirs, evoking their lives as children of immigrants who got successful and moved out of Manhattan to the suburbs of the Bronx (sic). They were smart and wealthy enough to be able to go to college (somewhat unusual for women in that day), visit Europe, and become businesswomen. Considerable time is spent in sketching their families, refugees fleeing from Europe, their (unsuccessful) beaus, and dogs. There is relatively little attention to their adventures in the book trade or the challenges they must have faced in establishing such a business, especially as women, though there is an interesting chapter on the recent changes to the rare book business, which was quite perspicuous.

The book is well written and fairly engaging, if not really compelling. It is always interesting for me to read about the lives of people the ages of my grandparents (or a bit younger, in their case), to think about what life was like for immigrant families. I would have liked to hear more about their feelings as Jews during the war.

To some degree, the book lacks focus: It’s not a detailed memoir of life in New York City; it doesn’t consider bigger issues such as problems of women in business; it doesn’t address their religious or ethnic heritage in detail. I’m not sure why they think readers want to read a whole chapter about the dogs in their lives (entertaining as that might be), and it isn’t clear how the chapter on changes in the book business fits into a book that is not about the book business.

The elephant in the book, so to speak, is the total absence of discussion of their personal relationship. The authors have work together, live in the same house, travel together, and take vacations together, and have done so for decades, but there is no discussion of the nature of their relationship. Their decision to move in and become partners (in whatever sense) seems to be the key element in both their lives, and yet it is strangely unaddressed. What did they think and plan when they moved in together? What did their families think about this? What problems has their partnership led to in their lives and work?

I realize that people of a certain generation may not be comfortable writing about such things... but no one made them write their memoirs! If two authors are writing a memoir jointly because of their relationship, surely that relationship has to be a topic of discussion.

In short, for readers of their previous books or for those interested in reading about growing up in New York City early in the last century, this is a book worth reading. However, I feel that the book is missing a personal touch that would have been very interesting—or perhaps a broader approach in which the authors addressed bigger issues in the context of their own experiences. The authors’ previous books (see Basbanes’ quote), in which they discuss specific books they have bought, the books’ significance, and what eventually happened to them, are recommended for book nerds.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book when I retired. I know my friend thought it would appeal because I am a great lover of books as were Rostenberg and Stern. I also thought I would like this book a lot. I remember when their book, Old Books, Rare Friends was published. I am pretty sure that I read that and enjoyed the stories Rostenberg and Stern had to tell about the rare book business.

This book is more about their personal lives - what their parents were like, their schooling, old boyfriends and travel. All of that was fine, but the authors really did not catch my attention. I wanted to know more about the book business.

I think this memoir would be excellent for readers interested in women's lives than for folks interested in books and reading. Rostenberg and Stern lived during interesting times and they were unusual for their times.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book to read because I needed something short to read before starting a book for my book club and because I had enjoyed a previous book by these authors, Old Books, Rare Friends. It was a light, quick read, organized into categories rather than being strictly chronological. I especially appreciated the critique of modern trends in education, book collecting, and electronic media.

[bookinglibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed their earlier memoir "Old Books, Rare Friends" on their life in the antiquitarian book world more.

[Ashleigh Hebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

So wonderful. Two women who loved books. The chapter, "The Men we Didn't Marry" was particularly amusing.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

for my friend Katie - we are bookends....

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and was inspired by these two strong woman who made there way in the business world at a time when it was truly a man's world.