First Editions — Attraction in Dublin

I was home visiting family from Australia when unexpectedly I was required to stay a few weeks longer due to covid. One morning, I took a gander around all the wonderful side streets. I simply love this area. I stumbled on this little book shop not realising it was first editions. I have to confess I am not particularly interested in old and first edition books, but by the time I came out of this little treasure, I was totally hooked. I must tell you why. When I first entered, the male assistant, who turned out to be the owner, greeted me and handed me a pair of white cotton gloves. 'To protect the covers and pages' he explained with a smile. I noticed also, that he respected the social distancing which at the time only just been introduced. He introduced himself as Allan and asked if I had any literary preferences. I explained that I knew absolutely nothing about first editions and I could see his eyes light up as he prepared himself to give me a guided tour of his amazing collection. I honestly could not believe the stories he related behind every book he highlighted. He carefully put each one into my hand as if they were precious cargo, which of course they were. Some were worth thousands and others far more within my own price range. He had books to suits every pocket. Allan talked about how he became so passionate about collecting such historic books (I asked, I'm very nosy!). Later in life, he explained, he went to university to study English and Irish and then continued into his Masters. He is a notary on Byron (actually one of my favourites, because I always thought Byron was drop dead gorgeous!) and has given talks on him internationally. He has also translated books into Irish. I was in awe of this in particular as I failed Irish in school. I didn't share this at the time of course! lol At one point we sat by his desk as he took me through the story behind specific publications. I never knew how interesting collecting books could be. He showed me some of his most favorite and I could see how attached he was to them. I imagine it would be hard for him to see them go, I think I would be the same. He said he has a bookshop full in his own 'library' at home, some which he could never part from. The shop had a lovely ambience, with soft classical music in the background. You could smell a hint of the beautiful wooden shelves and floors, mixed in with the faint smell of older books. All that was missing was a glass of red and an open fireplace as we sat and chatted. I left having made a purchase. It was a book I remembered from my childhood that my late grandfather would read to me. It wasn't a first edition but still very collectable, and was beautifully bound. It almost moved me to tears as I was drawn to it. The original cost was EU120 but Allan very kindly discounted the price to EU80 as he knew that my funds had seriously depleted due to my extended stay. As I prepared to leave, Allan offered me a small bin for me to throw out the white cotton gloves and to my surprise, there wasn't a mark on them. You'd expect a bit of dust at least! but no. I felt I'd met someone special, someone different, and that I had made a good friend. As I stood outside the door, I realised I had spent an hour and a half in 'The Old Curiosity Shop' and I had three missed calls from my husband! I quickly headed back to our hotel with a spring in my step. I'm now back in Australia, for a few months now. My experience is still with me and I thought I had to write this review. What a wonderful place this shop is. I know when I'm next home, it will be the first place I'll visit and perhaps tell Allan what books I've managed to purchase here in Australia for I left...

TL/DR: Book selection was great and the owner was so sweet, friendly, and helpful. Highly recommend!

My husband and I were visiting from the states and wanted to find some old books from local authors to bring back. He found this shop on Google and read the reviews. We were so intrigued by the bad reviews of the owner that we joked we wanted to visit just to see how he was in person. We ended up visiting the shop after a long day of sightseeing so by the time we went, I had forgotten all about the reviews.

We spent quite some time in the shop (which had lots of great selections and collectibles) and the owner was so friendly, warm, and helpful. We absolutely loved our time there.

When we left, I mentioned to my husband how sweet I thought the owner was. That was when my husband reminded me about the reviews. I was in total disbelief because our experience was the complete opposite of the reviews.

Really glad we came here and if we ever end up in Dublin again, we will be back....

The old man who owns this place was rude and borderline obscene. He was rude from the moment I stepped in.

When I asked him how much the LotR first-edition set cost, he told me I couldn't afford it (literally). When I smelled a book, he said "Barnes & Nobles would call the cops on you for doing that". When I apologized, he said "I don't care. Whatever turns you on, baby" (I'm quoting him verbatim).

Apart from the character issues, he did not know anything about books. He told me the LotR book set was printed in 1977. The first page said "Reprinted in 2002". Either he's clueless or the publishers have a time machine.

When I was leaving, he asked me to check out the charity shops in town to see if they sell cheap books. To clarify, I did not even say that his books were overpriced. I was actually considering buying the €185 LotR set for my cousin. But I'd rather burn the bills than give...