Florence Shay - In Memoriam, 1922-2012

"Run affectionately and decisively by Florence Shay, it's a small bookstore with a big heart: hosting a deep well of off-the-beaten-path tomes that would make even the stingiest bibliophile happy. I've never failed to leave Titles without either a new old book under my arm, or at least the trailing echoes of a vigorous conversation by which to further contemplate my ongoing existential crisis."

Billy Corgan

For four decades Titles Inc. served as a salon for bibliophiles. The owner, Florence Shay was one of the great booksellers of the past century. She started her Chicago firm Titles Inc. in 1972 and became an ABAA member in 1976. Titles Inc specialized in first editions, Chicagoiana, Americana, books about books, illustrated books, art, poetry, children's books, leather sets, and Lakeside Classics.

Florence Shay played an instrumental role in bringing an international antiquarian book fair to Chicago. She also was a prolific writer, editor of The Caxtonian and author of one of the first blogs in the rare book world. She started her much loved blog as early as in the 1980's. Click there and read all the moving obituaries that remember the grand dames of the antiquarian book trade.

>>> Titles Inc.

The interview was conducted by Daniel Weinberg of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc.