Schoenhof's Brings the World to the Square

It is the haunt of Romance Studies concentrators and classics buffs. Since its founding in 1856, Schoenhof's Foreign Books has attracted scores of foreign nationals, academics and multilingual Cantabrigians.

Schoenhof's lies nestled in the basement of a old-styled, brick building on Mount Auburn Street. Reference books in 300 different languages and works of literature in 30 languages spill over from ceiling high shelves packed into the small store.

But most of Schoenhof's customers never leaf through the new copies of Madame Bovary or browse in the extensive children's book section. The store sells two-thirds of its books through mail-order, shipping to individuals and institutions around the world.

Dartmouth, Brown and Columbia order their foreign books through Schoenhof's. Recently linguists as far away as Japan purchased Native American literature from the store.

All the clerks in the bookstore speak at least one foreign language and, between them, can communicate with most clients.

"I can never recall someone coming in here in which we could not find a language of some sort," Leyenson says.

Harvard professors and Schoenhof employees say Schoenhof's is recognized by institutions all over the U.S. as perhaps the sole bookstore of its kind in the country.

"Nobody has the variety that we do," says David J. Leyenson, vice president and general manager of Schoenhof's.

Professor of German Peter J. Burgard says Schoenhof's has an "out-standing" selection of German classics as well as contemporary literature.

"They have a unique collection of foreign books," Burgard says. "I've never seen a foreign bookstore as good in the United States. So I'm a fan."

While Schoenhof's ships books around the world, many of its local clients are Harvard students and faculty, according to Leyenson.

At the beginning of each semester all students taking foreign literature classes trek to Schoenhof's to purchase books for their courses.

In addition to serving the local Harvard community, Schoenhof's also sells much of its literature to immigrants and foreign nationals living in Cambridge.

Leyenson says many of the French speakers who frequent the bookstore are Haitian, adding that many Russian immigrants browse through the shelves of Russian literature flanking the back wall of the store.

Leyenson says Schoenhof's makes an effort to cater to its diverse clientele.

While Schoenhof's is praised for its variety of literature, many bemoan the high prices of its imported books.

Pescosolido Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Franco Fido says he can buy Italian books for half the price in his native Italy. But Fido adds that Schoenhof's must charge these prices to survive financially.

Leyenson says shipping charges and currency exchange rates increase the prices of the books.

The bookstore, in reselling merchandise to universities, must give discounts that in turn hike up the prices that other customers must pay, Leyenson says.

"The more expensive the book, the closer our price is to what it would cost in the original country," Leyenson says. "We make more money on cheap paperbacks."

Burgard questions the inflexibility of the prices.

"It is slightly pricey," he says. "But the prices don't fluctuate with the exchange rate."