Profile

This specialty antique archive offers thousands of dated, one-of-a-kind prints and maps, drawing both serious collectors and curious passersby. Since its original incarnation as a used-book shop in 1946—founded by Sidney B. Solomon and Henry Chafetz—Pageant has bounced around throughout lower Manhattan, relocating from East 9th Street to East 4th Street to West Houston and back. Today, the shop is run by Sidney’s daughters, Shirley and Rebecca Solomon, who scout rare finds at various antique markets and shows. Though the rare-books portion of the business is now online-only, the store’s vast stash of old maps, prints, and advertisements fills the minuscule space. Each item is covered in plastic and placed onto a sheet of cardboard to preserve its condition; prints are filed in two orderly tiers of display racks by category, including the broad—costumes, fashion, ephemera, sports—and the very specific, like a thick stack of New York maps “Below 14th Street” or the cartoons of Thomas Nast. Prices run the gamut as well, from $1 postcard-size prints near the doorway to framed, intricate New York maps from the 1800s for around $1,000. — Lauren Murrow