There are many people who would say they enjoy books. But for William Chrisant, his love for books runs much deeper.
Originally from Ohio, Chrisant remembers how his mother would read to him as a kid.
“She was a very dramatic reader,” he explained. “She would take on the dialect of the person she was narrating. You know, whether it was an animal or whomever, it was really entertaining!”
His passion for reading sparked into him collecting books in graduate school, as he came across booksellers in Europe that sold him rare books.
“I started buying from them and reselling to my professors even,” he recounts.
For Chrisant, his appeal in collecting books comes from his admiration of the work that went into creating them.
“Just works of art,” he expressed. “It’s an artifact more than it is a book in some ways.”
His collection grew so large, he eventually opened his first bookstore in Akron, Ohio. He later moved down to South Florida in 2009 with his wife and kids, where he opened up the Old Florida Book Shop in Fort Lauderdale. There, his collection has reached over 60,000 books.
“It’s a little embarrassing,” he jokes.
Chrisant admits he never thought his collection would become as extensive as it is now. He not only collects books, but also artifacts. With his favorite being maps from different parts of history.
“I kind of buy those maps because I think they’re interesting because if you lived at that time, you would be told that’s the way it was,” he says. “If you said it wasn’t that way, you’d be wrong!”
Chrisant hopes to expand his bookstore to add more space.
“It’s taken over a year so far,” he says. “But it’ll be worth it.”
