kept by · m. ostera, apothecary · — · the street of the press
m. ostera (no relation, she insists, to v. ostera the binder)
keeps her library behind the counter. each volume is bookmarked
with the names of those who needed it. some are bookmarked many
times.
most read: the small elixirs book,
with a leather thong as bookmark and a coffee stain on every
third leaf; and the parish formulary,
which is technically not hers but has been in her shop so long
no one asks. unread: the venoms volume, which she keeps for the
look of completeness.
one shelf is reserved for books left by the visiting botanist:
revisions to the latin names, drawings of plants the apothecary
knew under different names, a brief grammar of shade. the
apothecary regards these as on loan, though no one has come for
them.
field note · in the front of the formulary a remedy must do less harm than the illness. an apothecary must do less harm than the remedy. a book must do less harm than the apothecary.
see also · the botanist's books · the keeper's shelf · the bookbinder's ledger · the garden · the library