If you're looking for a copy of one of the classics of Norwegian literature, you can usually get a beautiful, leather-bound copy in an antiquarian bookstore for a third of the price you would have to pay for an anonymous copy just out of the press in an ordinary bookstore. Only the dedicated collectors seem to be aware that stores like Claes Nyegaard's are virtual treasure chests. What keeps the masses from flocking to the antiquarian bookstores is a great mystery to Nyegaard. They don't see the value of the old handicraft. Of course, the fact is that we have the best, the prettiest, and the most beautifully bound books.
Libraries can lend a book a hundred times.
Damms Antikvariat has a long history. The store was already a venereable age when Nyegaard started working there in 1941. Three years ago, Damms could celebrate its 150th anniversary. We waited 7 years for Ibsen to publish his first book. When at last it came, it was a great pleasure for us to be able to sell it.