Wormwoodania today…
“‘The Lost Tragedy’ by Denis Mackail, is a gently humorous piece (which was very much his style) set in a London second-hand bookshop. The narrator says: “Mr Bunstable’s book-shop represents a type of establishment which has pretty well disappeared from our modern cities. [It is a ‘dusty, labyrinthine bookshop, with teetering piles of titles everywhere’] As all who have considered the subject must agree, the principal object of any book-seller is to obstruct, as far as possible, the sale of books…”
Yes, I’ve often thought something similar about librarians as well.