The memory of the oldest inhabitant can not
recall a time when this corner was not devoted to its present uses; and
around it, in the long years that have passed since the first book
merchant first displayed his wares here, there have gathered a host of
the most interesting, as well as the most brilliant, souvenirs of our
literary history. Here were sold, in "the days that tried men's souls,"
those stirring pamphlets that sounded the death-knell of British tyranny
in the New World; and it was from this old corner that the tender songs
of Longfellow, the weird conceptions of Hawthorne, the philosophic
utterances of Emerson, first found their way to the hearts of the
people.
In 1884, the corner book-store was kept by Carter & Bendee, and was then
the leading book-house in Boston. One morning in that year there entered
the office of the proprietors a young lad from New Hampshire, who stated
that he came to seek employment in their service. His bright,
intelligent appearance was in his favor, scarcely less than the
testimonials which he brought, vouching for his integrity and industry.
His application was successful, and he entered the service of Messrs.
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