History of Chiswick Bookshop

Herman Cohen (1905-1997) and Viv Cohen (1909-2001)  founded the Chiswick Bookshop in 1935 in New York City. The first shop opened at 3 West 51st Street. Later addresses included; 2 East 46th Street (1941-53), 113 East 55th Street (1953-58), 45 West 57th Street (1958-68), 150 Fifth Avenue (1968-72) Sandy Hook, CT (1972-88) and Somers, NY (1989-2001).

Herman Cohen served on the original 13-member board of the Governing Committee of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA). He was also a longtime member of the Grolier Club, the AIGA, and the ILAB. His personal papers (detailing correspondence with booksellers, collectors, and artists) were donated by Viv to Columbia University, and are now a part of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Chiswick was the distributor of many famous private presses, including The Allen Press, The Bird & Bull Press, and  the Hammer Creek Press.

In 2002, the Typophiles (a bibliophile organization of which the Cohens were early members) published a Monograph (New Series #19) entitled "Reminiscences & Remembrances of Herman & Aveve Cohen and the Chiswick Bookshop" compiled and edited by their granddaughter, Jenni Matz and designed by Jerry Kelly.

page from "Reminiscences & Remembrances" Typophiles Monograph, 2002 by Jenni Matz.