#sotheran's

[eli-zab3th]

"Being open about who you are can be a little scary, but I think that after you’ve explored your first dungeon, or been hounded through a forest by an unknown threat, you begin to worry less about the approval of others and more about whether you remembered to bring a torch."

- Once Upon a Tome, Oliver Darkshire

[unrighteousbooks]

Be Warned: An Impostor is Among Us

I recently finished reading Oliver Darkshire's book Once Upon a Tome. Mr. Darkshire is an antiquarian bookseller at Sotheran's Rare Books in London. While I greatly enjoyed the book, I was deeply disturbed to read this passage:

"Of all the nice letters I've ever received, the ones I hold particularly close to my heart were sent from a mysterious stranger masquerading as the bookshop-owning angel Aziraphale from the novel Good Omens."

I do not understand why Mr. Darkshire describes me as being "from the novel Good Omens," as though I were some sort of fictional character. Setting that aside, however, it is unnerving to realize that a complete stranger is wandering the streets of London, writing letters and pretending to be me.

I can offer no proof, but I believe that the likely suspects can be narrowed down to a very short list.

A few years ago -- well, I suppose it was actually many years ago -- there was a book called History of New York. It was subsequently revealed that the author of this book, one Diedrich Knickerbocker, did not in fact exist. Perhaps "Mr. Knickerbocker" has moved on from creating fictional personas, and is now hijacking the identity of legitimate booksellers such as myself. (Regular readers will recall that I have previously commented on Mr. Knickerbocker: https://www.aziraphale.com/post/143753123162/a-curious-bit-of-satire-in-an-unvisited-corner-of)

Meanwhile, I have also been informed that there is a man named Buster Poindexter who is notorious for falsifying his identity. I have it on good authority that Mr. Poindexter has openly confessed that he is suffering from a personality crisis. It should also be noted that the name "poindexter" is often used to refer to someone who is enamored of books. Coincidence? I think not.

Another likely suspect -- or possibly "suspects," plural -- is a person or persons going by the name Pratchett Gaiman, or possibly Gaiman Pratchett. Again, I have no proof, but I have lost count of the times someone in the shop has asked me about so-and-so Gaiman or such-and-such Pratchett.

Finally, I cannot completely discount the possibility that my friend Crowley might be playing some sort of elaborate prank. He insists that this is not his doing, but it is just the sort of device that he would employ to rile me. He knows that pranks are anathema to me.

[flameraven]

If you don’t follow Sotheran’s over on Twitter, they’re essentially a real-life AZ Fell and Co -- a bookstore specializing in rare and antique books open since 1761. Today they apparently got a “cease and desist” letter from Aziraphale himself. Transcript: 18 December 2020 My dear Oliver, I hope you'll forgive the familiarity when we haven't been properly introduced! I've been following your Twittering for a little while and have been delighted by your adventures in bookselling and navigation of the social medium. I trust this missive finds you well and that the present unhappy situation of the world isn't weighing too heavily upon you. I should say, to begin with, that this is not in any way your fault. Rather, a combination of circumstances: your highly engaging accounts of life at Sotheran's and my -upon reflection, inadvisable- decision to place the word "Bookseller" quite so prominently outside my own place of work, have led to a troubling increase in potential customers. For some inexplicable reason, certain people have latched onto the idea that you and I are one and the same, conflating your excellent promises with my own, and consequently are under the impression that I am eager to attract codex-starved bibliophiles from far and wide. I suppose it's too much to ask that people understand the nuance of the title of bookseller, especially when it comes to books of a rare or antiquarian nature. While I am undoubtedly a bookseller, it does not immediately follow that I'm eager to sell books. At least when someone attempts to adopt a pet or a child, there are stringent checks upon the prospective home. But I digress. I wonder if I might prevail upon you to dispel any misperception amongst your followers that we are the same being. Even a very brief on-the-line statement would help. I would be tremendously grateful and will gladly direct any custom that strays through my doors your way, should you so desire. Sincerely and with warmest wishes, Aziraphale P.S. Crowley respectfully declines to apologise for Pompei or Herculaneum

[claar-bookdragonwitch]

[claar-bookdragonwitch]

[claar-bookdragonwitch]

[claar-bookdragonwitch]

From a year ago but always relevant