M. Judson: Booksellers & Storytellers opened in an "airy renovated space of a historic courthouse" in downtown Greenville, S.C., last week, according to the Greenville News. The space has undergone extensive renovations that took longer than expected.
The store offers a range of titles with an emphasis on Southern literature, children's/YA titles and culinary literature. M. Judson aims to be "more than a bookstore," its website said. "It's a literary hub, a cultural hive. It's trade in a story-centered lifestyle, and that's the philosophy reflected in everything we do. You'll see it in the farmer-inspired seasonal dishes on our menu, our commitment to local artists, our funky gifts and vintage housewares, and our special events and author signings."
The owners are Samantha Wallace, publisher of the local seasonal food magazine Edible Upcountry; Ashley Warlick, who is the author of four novels, the latest of which, The Arrangement, will be published by Viking next year, and an editor at Edible Upcountry; Tricia Lightweis, longtime owner of the Booksmith in nearby Seneca, S.C.; and consultant June Wilcox.
The bookstore's name refers to Mary Camilla Judson, teacher and principal at the Greenville Female College at the turn of the 19th century. She began the Judson Literary Society, "a gathering of women engaged in thoughtful debate, where she encouraged her students to find their point and hit it, too," the store wrote. "She donated her life savings to begin a library on campus, later named in her honor. Her annual calisthenics drill, a part of graduation ceremonies, featured students in flowing robes instead of corsets and stays, moving right up to the edge of dance for a packed house audience, as well as the protests of Baptist ministers. This is to say Mary Judson was a woman who believed in the brains and bodies of women, a woman ahead of her time."
M. Judson is located at 130 South Main St., Suite 200, Greenville, S.C. 29601; 864-603-2412.