Hocquet Caritat facts for kids

Louis Alexis Hocquet de Caritat was a bookseller and publisher who came from France to New York City in the late 1700s and early 1800s. He ran a special kind of library where people could rent books to read, and he also had a reading room. In 1802, his business was located at "City-Hotel, Fenelon's Head, Broad-Way."

Caritat was known as the official seller of books from a famous publisher called Minerva Press in the United States. His library was huge, with about 30,000 books! He had many books imported from other countries, in both English and French. Sometimes, he even sold other interesting items, like "sparkling white champagne wine."

A Popular Bookseller

Louis Alexis Hocquet de Caritat was much admired by people who loved books. In 1803, one person wrote about him, saying that Caritat was a true friend during tough times. This admirer believed Caritat was very smart and understood books well. He could tell a good book from a bad one, which was a rare skill for librarians back then.

Caritat's Charming Library

Caritat's motto was "place aux dames," which means "ladies first." Because of this, all the ladies in New York loved his library and found it charming. The shelves were filled with many popular novels of the time. These included exciting titles like Female Frailty, The Posthumous Daughter, and The Cavern of Woe.

His library also held many copies of adventure stories such as The Cottage-on-the-Moor, The House of Tynian, and The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. People also loved thrilling tales like The Devil in Love, More Ghosts, and Rinaldo Rinaldini.

Novels were very popular with everyone, from young teenagers to older adults. People of all ages enjoyed reading the exciting stories found in Caritat's library.