A man of letters, books and lectures

Boston bookshop owner and rare book collector/appraiser Ken Gloss compares himself to Jim Hawkins, a character from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island:” he’s a treasure hunter who never knows what he’s going to find next.

Whether it’s letters written by Thomas Jefferson, a brochure for the Titanic or a program for the 1918 World Series (which was won by the Boston Red Sox), Gloss has found many rare and valuable items while working at his job.

A guest of PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow,” Gloss will make a stop in Hanover next week to talk about rare book collecting and to appraise audience members’ books. On the traveling show, experts evaluate how much antiques that people bring with them are worth.

The Hanover Historical Society will sponsor a talk by Gloss on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. at the Phoenix Mason’s Lodge, which is at 131 Broadway. The question and answer session is titled “Treasures in Your Attic: Old and Rare Books.”

“New England homes are treasure-troves for old and rare books that have increased in value over the years,” Gloss said. “We invite the public to bring any volumes they want to know about to the lecture for a free verbal appraisal.”

Carol Franzosa, president of the Hanover Historical Society and owner of Times Past, an antiques shop at Four Corners in Hanover, said the society sought out Gloss to speak.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” Franzosa said. “It should be a fun evening.”

Franzosa said Gloss’s father George visited the town of Hanover and spoke to the historical society more than 20 years ago and people, herself included, enjoyed his talk.

Franzosa said she thinks attendees will enjoy seeing how much their books are worth during the appraisal session after the talk. “Everyone has books at home and they wonder if they are worth anything,” she said.

    Besides his appraisal skills, Gloss, a second-generation proprietor of the Brattle Book Shop in Downtown Crossing, will bring some stories and a few treasures he’s uncovered during his search for antiquarian books.

He’s got plenty to share since he’s been working in the family bookstore for his entire life. His parents bought the store in 1949, and Gloss began working there after school when he was a child.

“They say my first word was book,” said Gloss, who grew up in Dorchester.

He continued working at the store during the summers of his college years at U-Mass, Amherst and almost chose to take a different direction in life. A chemistry major, Gloss said he considered going forward in earning a PhD in the field and was already accepted into the program at the University of Wisconsin, but instead came home to help out in the store because his father was not well.

“I don’t regret for a minute that I’m doing this and am not in a laboratory,” Gloss said. He works about 12 hours in the store each day and is there by 6 a.m. each morning. His job involves a lot, from appraising books, to making purchases and going through books, which have been left to him in estates. He also gives numerous talks on his area of expertise.

Through the talks, Gloss shares his love of all that is books. He said his goal for each discussion is to present his points in such a way, that people will walk away from the lecture and say, “You know, books are fun.”

The discussion typically lasts for 30 minutes, and is followed by a question and answer session, which Gloss said he looks forward to since he already knows what he is going to say.

The appraisals follow, and Gloss said audience members often enjoy looking over his shoulder as he appraises the various paper treasures guests in attendance have brought with them.

“Most of what people bring to these appearances turns out not to be valuable,” Gloss said, adding that many consider that to be a good thing. “They want to give the book to their children or grandchildren.”

When a book is worth a little too much to leave to the grandchildren, but not worth quite enough to pay for college tuitions, can create a sticky situation for the owner.

At the same time, though, Gloss said he’s often surprised by what he finds at the appraisals. “You just never know what’s going to show up,” he said.

He once found a page of a draft of the Declaration of Independence and a valuable copy of J. D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.”

“I looked inside and there was a long inscription from J. D. Salinger,” Gloss said. “It was probably worth $25,000.”

Ninety-nine percent of the time, Gloss said he can do the appraisal on the spot. If he can’t, he said he takes notes and gets back to the people at a later time.

Gloss has been featured on PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” for nine years now, and his wife, Joyce Kosofsky, who also works at the bookstore, has been doing appraisals on the show for a few years now.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Gloss said. “It’s been a wonderful way for us to travel around the country and meet wonderful people.”

Book appraisal is a skill that’s learned on the job, Gloss said. “I’ve worked with it all my life, but nobody can ever know everything.” Part of the job, he added, is knowing where to look things up.

At the Brattle Book Shop, Gloss said he receives tons of emails and phone calls from people interested in appraisals and he invites anyone who can’t make it to next week’s event in Hanover to call or email the shop at (800) 447-9595 or info@brattlebookshop.com.

The job of owning or even working in a bookstore is a lot more involved than people might think, Gloss added. For instance, employees who work in his store can’t be allergic to mold or mildew since they have so many old, rare books on the three-floor premises. Employees must also be physically strong in order to lift boxes of books. “That’s actually much more of the job than people consider,” said Gloss.

Employees must also be ready to move, if they are called out to an estate, which has left the shop some books. Gloss has been able to glean many a rare gem from piles of books found from calls like these.

He remembered one day where he found paper written by Thomas Jefferson in the bottom of a trunk in the suburban home of a Bay State resident. The letters were written in reference to the War of 1812 and in them Jefferson discussed how to treat traitors and terrorists, which Gloss found of particular interest since he found them a short time after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

He recalled just looking at the papers in awe and thinking that at one time Jefferson held those same pieces of paper that he was now holding.

Before the event begins, there will be a dinner and social hour starting at 6 p.m. The dinner will consist of roast pork, and the cost is $13 per person. To make a reservation, required for the meal, call Richard and Pauline Rockwell at (781) 826-1689.