The Portugal News (TPN): How did Anno come about?

Raúl Pereira (RP): Anno came about because recently I felt I needed to change the direction of my life. As I was collaborating with a colleague in the antique bookshop area, I realised from my contact with other bookshops in the North of Portugal that there was a gap in the market. In a conversation between colleagues, we realised that it would be a good tool to give new life to some books. So, I decided to take a chance, and since October I've been trying to fill this gap in the North of Portugal.


TPN: Who is part of the Anno team?

RP: Anno is a sole proprietorship. The idea is to expand in the future and have a permanent team. At the moment, I have two colleagues who are my consultants, who are always in contact with me and that is how we work. Sometimes it is through photography, as technology also allows this. I have two extraordinary people with me, Francisco Brito, from the Cólofon bookshop, who is a bookseller with more than 10 years' experience. And a young historian, Miguel Ayres de Campos, who is an extraordinary person, with great knowledge and a fabulous sense of humour.


TPN: What does an antique bookseller do?

RP: We generally look for old books and, in particular, books that do not have a chronology that we can define with great precision. Not least because we also have the rare book factor. We may be talking about an 80-year arc, for example. But in fact, what we have been most keen to find are those editions that date back to the invention of the printing press. A manuscript, perhaps, and if it is medieval, even better. Therefore, between the invention of the printing press and the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that's more or less where the gold is.


TPN: How difficult is it to find a rare book with all these specificities?

RP: Initially we had our contacts and we naturally used that to our advantage to launch Anno. Now what happens is that people come to us, which is amazing. Sometimes people have things at home that are abandoned or at risk of deterioration. Then they come to us to sell them. In this context, they invite us to visit their libraries because that's where the rarities are. We go there, make an assessment and with our experience, looking at a bookshelf, we realise in about five minutes what's there. Sometimes it's difficult trying to convince people of the value of the books. Because, for example, a book from the 19th century is not necessarily a very expensive book. Sometimes it's very difficult to convince people that a book is worth five euros.


TPN: Who is most interested in auctions?

RP: There are advantages and disadvantages in terms of the target. Generally, anyone who collects something has to be financially stable. And so most young people are completely left out of this market. Plus, it is required a certain culture of taste acquired with age. In Guimarães, together with my colleagues, we're thinking of doing something to attract young people to this area.

In general, we have everything from researchers, university students and teachers to collectors who make themed libraries, for example, people who dedicate themselves to just one theme.


TPN: How do the auctions work?

RP: We open the auction on a Saturday and it ends the following Saturday, so it runs for a week. It usually opens at 10pm on a Saturday and ends at 11pm the following Saturday.


TPN: So, you intend to keep the auctions online only?

RP: Yes, because a face-to-face auction involves other logistics, such as collecting a certain number of lots. As well as other expenses such as the printed catalogue, sending the catalogue to customers, and a room that is worthy of welcoming customers. And in a face-to-face auction, we would have to deal with hundreds of thousands of euros worth of books.


TPN: Still on the subject of youth, how do you think the recent literary offer can affect the literary habits of young people? In particular, the recommendations shared on social networks like TikTok?

RP: It's a bit of a tricky question, but reading, whatever it is, is always good, it is an exercise and it's training. Quality is always subjective, and modernity also distracts us a little from reading. In other words, we read a lot more today than we did in the past, but we're reading on screens, we're reading other types of information that are much more visual. And the kind of books you're talking about usually have covers similar to fireworks. All the covers are gilded, silvered, and have great illustrations and the content, of course, is not the greatest.

One of the difficulties that booksellers have is reaching social networks, with something that appeals to young people. In conversation with a colleague, I said that at their age [today's youth], I was obliged to read the classics or Eça de Queiróz or Camilo Castelo Branco. But on the other hand, we also read Uncle Scrooge and comic books. I think we still have a bit of time to properly answer that question. I think we still have to let a few years go by to see what the outcome of this will be.


TPN: How do you explain the emotional connection you have with books? And how do you sometimes escape it?

RP: My education at the University of the Algarve was in the field of Heritage and Art History, so I always had to deal with old books because they were part of my research. One of the tricks to detach myself from the emotional side of books is to be more rational, which is good for your wallet, as you buy less for yourself. Before I became a bookseller, I was always buying books, and now I'm not. On the other hand, by analysing the book more rationally, we start to value other things and other books too. Just out of curiosity, some colleagues have a trick that I think is very interesting: they stop collecting books and centre their collecting impetus on something else, from contemporary art to African tribal art, for example.


TPN: What advice would you give to younger people who would like to work in antique bookshops?

RP: We don't have enough time to read everything our ancestors left us. So, I advise you to be very judicious in what you choose to read, a bit like I said earlier. If we only dedicate ourselves to the great literary classics, we won't have enough time in our lives to read them all. So, I believe that we also have to read some of our contemporary stuff and I think that's healthy.


To find out more about Anno and its auctions, simply visit the official website of the bookshop, which is located in the city where Portugal was born.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos