The Booksellers

The smell of old paper. Shelves stretching to ceiling. The thrill of finding a forgotten treasure. Independent bookstores offer something digital can't replicate.

This behind-the-scene look at New York's rare book world reveals antiquarian booksellers who are part scholar, part detective, part businessperson. Through interviews with dealers and cultural figures like Fran Lebowitz, the film explores book culture as technology transforms reading. While brick-and-mortar stores face decline, places like the Strand and Argosy thrive—specialists hunting remarkable objects from Da Vinci's Codex Leicester to early hip-hop documents. These obsessives preserve physical books as cultural artifacts.

A celebration of people who see books as objects containing worlds worth preserving.