Shopping (or not) in Rome - Antica Libreria Romana Closes

All the photos here are for the once-lovely,
now-closed Antica Libreria Romana

RST is not known for shopping, but now and then a store really intrigues us.  And so it was with Antica Libreria Romana on via dei Prefetti in central Rome.

The full name was Antica Libreria Romana dal 1897 (Old Roman Bookstore since 1897).   Well, now it's 2013, and they are gone.  They had undergone some closures and different owners over the years, but 1897 and they can't survive 2013?  It's a pity, to be sure.

This "bookstore" for us was a print store.  They had a great collection of inexpensive prints - great mementos of Rome at prices ranging from Euro 5 - as you can see from the photo.  And not just the fake-o contemporary reprints.

Antica Libreria Romana also had bins of prints and leafing through them was great fun in itself. They specialized in antique books and also have other objects to lust after, focusing on "Liberty" - the 1920s.  The shopkeepers were friendly and not stuffy, and they would bargain. 

It's too bad, IMO, that this is the type of store that goes out of business, while the international big box stores - H and M, Nike, etc., populate via del Corso in ever increasing numbers.

You can add to the closure list also The Lion Bookshop in Rome, an English language bookstore that was an institution since 1947. And then one day in 2011, simply closed.  We know book stores the world over are closing because of internet access, and we're guilty of buying on the internet too.  But we would like to think there is room for some of these independents.

Dianne

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