Chimaira Buchhandels GmbH

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H**p Mecca

At a first glance, Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft, located in Frankfurt-Heddernheim since 2004, and in spite of its unusual name, has the appearance of a typical urban book shop – contemporary children and young readers’ books in the window display and two racks with a colourful mix of second-hand books out in front. Otherwise, there are few shops in this street. On entering the welcoming shop and taking a look around it will soon emerge that there is more to it: an antiquarian books department and specialist literature sections in the fields of herpetology, that is amphibians and reptiles, entomology and ichthyology.

How did it happen that all of this was combined under one roof? Founder Andreas S. Brahm, a professional book dealer who learnt his trade in Frankfurt, became self-employed with his first book shop near Frankfurt Zoo in 1990. Right from the start, he felt it was important that »old and new« be mixed, i.e., that there had to be an antiquarian and a contemporary leg. And it had to be a formal shop: »A shop with fixed opening hours conveys a certain sense of genuineness to the customer.« Spurred by his personal interests, he compiled and mailed out in 1993 a small catalogue that listed herpetological publications in stock – the magnitude of the response came as a great surprise to him. This sparked the idea of specializing, and today, »there is no assortment like ours in the whole wide world,« the now fifty-year-old explains with a twinkle in his eye.

Gerold Schipper, with a PhD in German philology and having been »one of the first customers« of Brahm’s, first joined as a freelance associate in 1995 when the first publishing project was turned into reality; he has been an integral part of the team since 2000. Together, they oversee the Edition Chimaira, which, amongst others, publishes the renowned ›Frankfurter Beiträge zur Naturkunde,‹ and under which label about 140 books have been published so far. The publishing and antiquarian legs pollinate each other in that, for example, a collector may pen a preface for a volume of the Edition, or a sought-after scientific treatise may be selected for reprinting. While the general range of books and antiquarian items (including literature specifically on Frankfurt and ›Insel-Bücherei‹) cater rather for local customers, the more scientifically minded clientele interested in herpetological works can be found throughout Germany and abroad. Purchases of libraries in this specialist sector usually stem from scientists who retire from their posts. One such collection was recently acquired from Switzerland, and another one was purchased from Argentina a few years back. ›Shopping trips‹ are not required, says Brahm, with offers often coming in all by themselves as a result of the fire-wire network that exists between herpetologists. Or customers would sometimes point out opportunities for making an acquisition. On the other hand, the grapevines will quickly spread the word when Chimaira has bought up something interesting, and the telephone often starts ringing even before all the new books have been catalogued.

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