Budding Booksellers: Oliver Darkshire

The ABA Educational Trust Traineeship Scheme offers financial and tutorial support to an ABA member to hire a trainee. While working for the ABA member, the trainee follows a two-year course based on a curriculum devised and monitored by the ABA Educational Trust, ensuring that they gain experience in all aspects of the trade. The aim is that, by the end of the course, the successful trainee can be considered a competent junior bookseller. We are delighted to share these experiences from three recent participants in the traineeship scheme.

I don't think anyone plans to become a rare bookseller so much as the profession mugs them in a dark alley and replaces their CV with a set of elbow patches. I count myself incredibly lucky to have stumbled into an apprenticeship in the rare book trade. Rare books is something of a hands-on industry, where being close to the material on a daily basis really matters, and it was the help of the ABA Educational trust that gave me the chance not only to work alongside experienced mentors, but also to support myself financially in the process. Being introduced to the occasional stuffed owl along the way was merely a colourful bonus.

Every day in the rare book trade presents you with new experiences and challenges - I don't think a day goes by where you aren't placed in a dusty room with the opportunity to learn something new. You don't have to know much about goatskin when you start, but you probably will by the time you finish! An apprenticeship or traineeship is a space designed for you to start at the bottom, get your hands dirty, and work your way upwards, which I have always felt is one of the best ways to learn.

Traineeships offered by the ABA help to introduce new voices and perspectives to the antiquarian book community, while also giving established booksellers an extra pair of hands around the shop. It's mutually beneficial, and an arrangement that represents the best of what an old trade like ours has to offer. If you're as fortunate as I have been then it might even lead to a career doing something you love.

Oliver Darkshire currently works at Henry Sotheran's. Find out more about the ABA Educational Trust here.