======================================================================
=                        The_Haunted_Bookshop                        =
======================================================================

                            Introduction
======================================================================
'The Haunted Bookshop' is a 1919 novel by Christopher Morley, now in
the public domain in the United States. It has remained a popular
representative of the "bibliomystery," a mystery story set in the
world of books.


                         Plot introduction
======================================================================
This is a suspenseful novel set in Brooklyn around the time of the end
of World War I. It continues the story of Roger Mifflin, the book
seller in 'Parnassus on Wheels'. It also details an adventure of Miss
Titania Chapman and a young advertising man named Aubrey Gilbert.

'The Haunted Bookshop' is not a novel of the supernatural. Rather, the
name refers to the ghosts of the past that haunt all libraries and
bookstores: "the ghosts of all great literature." Throughout the novel
Morley, through the character of Roger Mifflin, makes reference to the
knowledge and wisdom that one can gain from literature.


                            Plot summary
======================================================================
The narrative begins with a young advertising man, Aubrey Gilbert,
stopping by a bookstore named "The Haunted Bookshop" in the hopes of
finding a new client. Gilbert meets the proprietor, Roger Mifflin.
Gilbert does not succeed in selling advertising copy, but is intrigued
by Mifflin and his conviction concerning the value books and
booksellers have to the world. Additionally, Gilbert is intrigued by
the fact that his firm's biggest client, Mr. Chapman, is a friend of
Mifflin and has asked Mifflin to undertake the education of his
daughter, Titania Chapman, by hiring her as an assistant.

Gilbert returns to the book store, meets Titania, and falls in love
with her. Meanwhile, mysterious things start to happen: a copy of
Thomas Carlyle's 'Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell' disappears
and reappears, Gilbert is attacked as he travels home, a pharmacist
neighbor of Mifflin is observed skulking in the alley behind the
bookstore at night speaking to someone in German, and an assistant
chef at the Octagon Hotel has posted an ad in 'The New York Times'
promising a reward for a lost copy of 'Letters and Speeches of Oliver
Cromwell'. Gilbert starts to sense that something nefarious is afoot.
He suspects that the gregarious Mifflin is involved in a plot to
kidnap Titania, and he assigns himself the job of protecting her.

Meanwhile, Mifflin begins to train Titania in the booksellers' trade.
His focus is so centered on books and their content that he fails to
note the unusual things that are occurring.

Gilbert takes a room across from the bookstore in order to keep eye on
things, and believes his suspicions confirmed when he sees the
pharmacist let himself into the bookshop with his own key late at
night. Gilbert breaks into the bookshop in an effort to find evidence
to prove his suspicions, but only manages to frighten and anger
Titania.

Gilbert learns that Mifflin is to take a day trip to Philadelphia, and
follows him in the belief that the trip is a part of the "kidnapping"
plot. In Philadelphia Gilbert confronts Mifflin with his suspicions,
telling him of all the things that have occurred. The two realize that
a third party had lured Mifflin away from the shop. They call the
bookshop and learn that the pharmacist has left a suitcase of books
there for someone else to pick up. Mifflin tells Titania to hold on to
the case until he returns.

Mifflin and Gilbert return to the bookshop and find it locked. Inside,
the pharmacist and an associate of his have tied up Mrs. Mifflin and
are menacing Titania with a gun.

A fight ensues, part of the bookstore is destroyed by a bomb, and the
pharmacist escapes. The only casualties of the bomb are the
pharmacist's partner and Mifflin's dog, Bock. Mifflin even affects to
be pleased as the blast knocked down books he'd forgotten he had.

In the final chapter of the book Gilbert and Mifflin learn what the
true plot was: The pharmacist was a German spy who had been using the
bookshop as a drop-off point. He was a specialist in making bombs, and
had hidden a bomb in one of President Woodrow Wilson's favorite books.
The pharmacist's co-conspirator was the assistant chef at the Octagon
Hotel. He was to be part of the crew on the ship Wilson was to travel
on to peace talks in Europe, and was to plant the bomb in Wilson's
cabin in an assassination plot. The pharmacist was captured by police,
and killed himself.


               Characters in ''The Haunted Bookshop''
======================================================================
* Roger Mifflin: Bookseller, proprietor of The Haunted Bookshop.
* Aubrey Gilbert: Young advertising man who suspects illicit acts are
occurring.
* Bock: Roger Mifflin's dog, a mustard-colored terrier named for
Boccaccio.
* Helen Mifflin: Mr. Mifflin's wife.
* George Chapman: A client of Gilbert, friend of Mifflin, and father
of Titania.
* Titania Chapman: A young lady apprenticed to Mr. Mifflin.
* Mr. Weintraub: A pharmacist neighbor to Mifflin.
* Mrs. J. F. Smith: Who abides in all lodging houses.
* Metzger: Assistant chef at the Octagon Hotel.


                            Major themes
======================================================================
This is primarily a novel of suspense, though throughout it Morley
proclaims the value of books. Mifflin, the protagonist, is a
self-described "practitioner of bibliotherapy" who thinks booksellers
heal minds just like doctors heal bodies. Mifflin describes a
"librocubicularist" as someone who is fond of readings in bed.


                Allusions/references to other works
======================================================================
Books referenced by characters:
* 'Trivia' by Logan Pearsall Smith
* 'The Story of My Heart: An Autobiography' by Richard
Jeffries[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2317]
* 'Notebooks,' by Samuel Butler
* 'The Man Who Was Thursday' by G. K. Chesterton
* 'The Demi-Gods' by James Stephens
* 'The Works of Francis Thompson'
* 'The Social History of Smoking' by G.L. Apperson
[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18096]
* 'The Path to Rome' by Hilaire Belloc
[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7373]
* 'The Book of Tea' by Okakura Kakuzo
* 'Happy Thoughts' by F.C. Burnand
* 'Margaret Ogilvy' by J.M. Barrie
* 'Confessions of a Thug' by Philip Meadows Taylor
* 'General Catalogue of the Oxford University Press'
* 'The Morning's War' by C.E. Montague
* 'The Spirit of Man' edited by Robert Bridges
* 'The Romany Rye' by George Henry Borrow
* Poems by Emily Dickinson
* Poems by George Herbert
* 'The House of Cobwebs' by George Gissing
* 'The Way of All Flesh' and 'Erewhon' by Samuel Butler
* 'Paradise Lost' by Milton
* 'Parnassus on Wheels' by Christopher Morley
* 'Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell' by Thomas Carlyle

Authors referenced by characters: Carlyle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry
Thoreau, George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton, Nietzsche, George Ade, Ralph
Waldo Trine, J.M. Chapple, J.M. Barrie, Joseph Conrad, John Keats.


Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
======================================================================
The novel is set shortly after the end of World War I. Characters
occasionally discuss the war. It is mentioned several times that
Woodrow Wilson is to travel to peace conferences. Characters plot to
assassinate Woodrow Wilson on his way to the peace conferences
following the war.


                         In popular culture
======================================================================
Cornell & Diehl produces a pipe tobacco named after this novel.


License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Bookshop