Canfield Stephens Books

photo by Jerome Frank, April 1978

Together Christopher P. Stephens and Cass Canfield opened a very classy store on 57th Street between Madison and 5th in New York City. The store was called Canfield Stephens Books.

Cass had led a life full of vivid adventure. He'd walked across China for example. Many of his best adventures were literary ones. Cass was senior editor at Harper & Brothers, later Harper & Row. He knew collectors, authors and publishing leaders as well as a host of interesting people in various fields.

Chris had a second floor store on Madison and 34th Street. He was 35 years old, struggling to sell enough books to pay the rent and keep buying more books. The invitation to join Canfield seemed an incredible opportunity. It was.

Canfield Stephens Books was an exceptional store. The books and prints were superb. It's a shame the store winked out of existence in just less than a year. The men had different goals and the weight of expenses made it difficult for all goals to be met.

It was great fun while it lasted. One of the best aspects for Chris was the friendly and fascinating association with Cass Canfield.