Books by Leona Rostenberg

In this dual memoir, aging friends and partners in a successful rare manuscript business that spanned half a century reminisce about coming of age in New York prior to World War II. Famous for discovering pulp stories by Louisa May Alcott, the two share the details of how they built their business in an environment that was less than sympathetic to the goals of working women. A story of passionate entrepreneurship, this is also a tale of rare friendship and rare manuscripts.

Louisa May Alcott once wrote that she had taken her pen for a bridegroom. Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, friends and business partners for fifty years, have in many ways taken up their pens and passion for literature in much the same way. The "Holmes & Watson" of the rare book business, Rostenberg and Stern unlocked the hidden secret of Louisa May Alcotts life when they discovered her pseudonym, A.M. Barnard, along with her anonymously published "blood and thunder" stories on subjects like transvestitism, hashish smoking, and feminism. Old Books, Rare Friends describes their mutual passion for books and literary sleuthing as they take us on their earliest European book buying jaunts. Using what they call ""Finger-spitzengefuhl,"" the art of evaluating antiquarian books by handling, experience, and instinct, they treat us to some of their greatest discoveries amid the mildewed basements of London's booksellers after the Blitz. We experience the thrill of finding one of the earliest known books printed in America between 1617-1619 by the Pilgrim Press and learn about the influential role of publisher-printers from the 15th century.Like a precious gem, Old Books, Rare Friends is a book to treasure about the companionship of two rare friends and their shared passion for old books.

"Old Books, Rare Friends" is a unique journey with two longtime friends and devoted readers. Rostenberg and Stern's dual memoir is filled with their passion for literary mysteries, which developed over their 50 years as dealers of rare books. Among other anecdotes, the women reveal how they discovered Louisa May Alcott's pseudonym and her anonymously published stories.