Argosy Book Store
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Short description|Independent bookstore in New York City}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Argosy Book Store
| logo = Argosy_Books_Logo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| image = Argosy Book Store.jpeg
| image_caption = Argosy Book Store (inside)
| foundation = {{Start date|1925}}
| founder = Louis Cohen
| owner = Judith Lowry, Naomi Hample, Adina Cohen, Ben Lowry
| location_city = New York City
| location_country = United States
| area_served = Worldwide
| industry = Specialty retail
| products = Out-of-print and rare books; antique maps and prints; autographs & manuscripts
| num_employees = 17
| homepage = http://www.argosybooks.com/
}}
The Argosy Book Store is New York City's oldest independent bookstore. Located at 116 East 59th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues in Midtown Manhattan, it occupies an entire six-story townhouse with various sales floors specializing in first editions, Americana, leather bindings, antique maps and prints, and autographs.{{Citation |last=Thomas |first=Michael |title=Volumes of Praise: One Loyal Customer's Appreciation for the Argosy Book Shop |pages=145 |magazine=Quest |date=October 2005}} The store, also noted for a wide selection of bargain books, has its own framing and shipping departments and owns a large warehouse in Brooklyn.
History
The Argosy was founded in 1925 by Louis Cohen,[http://www.salon.com/2011/05/15/trazzler_slide_show_beautiful_bookstores/slide_show/9/ "The world's most inspiring bookstores"] Salon who picked the name, in part, because it started with the letter "A" and would be listed early in telephone directories.{{Citation |last=Nelson |first=Sara |title=A Family Affair: Book lovers flock to the Argosy Book Store, a thriving New York cultural institution presided over by savvy sisters |newspaper=Publishers Weekly Book Life |pages=27 |date=December 2006 – January 2007}} Originally located in the old Bible House on Fourth Avenue's famed "Book Row," it moved to 114 East 59th Street in the 1930s
{{Citation |last=Chernofsky |first=Jacob |title=Louis Cohen and the Argosy Book Store |newspaper=AB Bookman's Weekly |pages=1509–1510 |date=April 15, 1991}} and then moved next door to its current address in 1964 when the previous building was replaced with a skyscraper. Cohen's wife, Ruth Shevin, managed the store's art gallery into her 90s[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/13/books/a-shrine-to-books-past-clings-to-independence.html "A shrine to books past clings to independence"] The New York Times (October 13, 1997) and worked with several other family members over the years. Now in its third generation of family ownership, the store is operated by Cohen's three daughters and grandson.
Molarsky, Mona. "Favorite Midtown bookstores east of Fifth". Examiner.com, February 16, 2009.
Since its inception, the Argosy has worked with many prominent customers, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ordered books from an early catalogue, and later First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who needed help stocking the White House library with Americana. President Bill Clinton has been a
regular customer{{Citation |last=Barron |first=James |title=Boldface Names |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 25, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/25/nyregion/boldface-names-831840.html}}
{{Citation |title=Page Six: Sightings |newspaper=The New York Post |date=December 9, 2004 |url=http://entertainment.uk.myway.com/celebgossip/pgsix/id/12_09_2004_11.html}}
ever since the owners restored his flood-damaged
collection of books in Chappaqua, New York.{{Citation |last1=Barron |first1=James |last2=Waldman |first2=Amy |title=Boldface Names |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 31, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/nyregion/boldface-names-483583.html}} Other high-profile customers have included Michael Jackson, Stephen Sondheim, Princess Grace,{{Citation |last=Reynolds |first=Tripp |title=Little Shop of Treasures: New York's Argosy Bookshop Is A Paradise For Collectors Of All Kinds |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=April 4, 1995 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/04/04/little-shop-of-treasures/}} Sally Field,{{Citation |last=Kachka |first=Boris |title=Sally Field Spent a Decade Getting Into Character for Lincoln |newspaper=New York Magazine |date=November 11, 2012 |url=http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/sally-field-on-being-lincolns-first-lady.html}} Donatella Versace,{{Citation |last=Kling |first=Cynthia |title=Shortlist: Donatella Versace |newspaper=Elle Decor |url=http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/shortlist-donatella-versace#slide-5}} Oriana Fallaci,{{Citation |title=Page Six: Sightings |newspaper=The New York Post |date=December 20, 2005 |url=http://entertainment.ca.myway.com/celebgossip/pgsix/id/12_20_2005_11.html}} and Kevin Rudd.{{Citation |last=Barron |first=James |title=City Room: A Prime Minister and a Roosevelt |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 24, 2009 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0D91430F937A1575AC0A96F9C8B63}}
Patti Smith was briefly an employee in 1967.
{{cite web |title=Jonathan Lethem & Patti Smith |publisher=PEN American Center |date=November 3, 2010 |url=http://www.pen.org/transcript-conversation/jonathan-lethem-patti-smith |format=interview}}
In October 2012 the Argosy suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Sandy, when bricks dislodged from the 32nd story of the adjacent building and crashed through the store's roof. The resulting flood affected the top two floors and destroyed many historical artifacts, including acts of Congress signed by Thomas Jefferson.{{Citation |last=Barron |first=James |title=Storm's Damage Extends to Nation's History |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 15, 2012 |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/storms-damage-extends-to-nations-history/}}
The store made a full recovery by the fall of 2013.
In popular culture
The Argosy, known for its elegant old-world interior,{{Citation |last=Shapiro |first=Gary |title=An Uptown Book Oasis |newspaper=The New York Sun |date=February 14, 2006 |url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/uptown-book-oasis/27546/}}
has been used as a setting for movies and TV dramas, including The Front with Woody Allen, Law and Order, and Person of Interest. Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo also features a bookstore of the same name situated in San Francisco. It has also been used as a background for fashion shoots and television interviews. It was prominently featured in the 2018 movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? and is among the New York bookstores where the real-life Lee Israel had attempted to sell her forgeries. It was also featured in the 2019 movie The Goldfinch.
The store and its history are one of the subjects of the 2019 documentary The Booksellers.[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/booksellers-review-1245962/ "'The Booksellers': Film Review"], The Hollywood Reporter, October 7, 2019. The Argosy was also the subject of an article by Janet Malcolm in The New Yorker. Malcolm, Janet, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the-book-refuge "The Book Refuge: Three sisters keep a family business going"], June 16, 2014.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.argosybooks.com/ Official Argosy Book Store website]
- [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the-book-refuge Article in The New Yorker: Argosy Book Store]
- [https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-xpm-2011-sep-04-la-tr-nypl-20110904-story.html Article in the Los Angeles Times]
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/06/obituaries/louis-cohen-87-rarities-expert-and-founder-of-argosy-book-shop.html Obituary for Louis Cohen in The New York Times]
- [http://www.unav.es/nuestrotiempo/es/cultura/tinta-papel-y-vida Spanish article in Nuestro Tiempo]
{{Midtown North, Manhattan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|40.7624|-73.9691|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=title}}
Category:Bookstores in Manhattan
Category:Independent bookstores of the United States
Category:Antiquarian booksellers
Category:Book selling websites
Category:Shops in New York City
Category:Bookstores established in the 20th century
Category:American companies established in 1925