2005 OAH Convention Supplement

A Personal Guide to Antiquarian and Used Book Stores

Leon F. Litwack

Serendipity Books, 1201 University Ave. , Berkeley. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (510-841-7455). This is one of the finest, most interesting, and most eclectic bookstores in the country, and one of the very few to have been memorialized in fiction and poetry. Peter Howard, a recent president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association, presides over this broad-ranging collection, with a specialization in modern first editions, African American literature, and unusual and hard-to-find antiquarian books. One is likely to find almost anything here, as long as it has some literary and historic value.

▪ Moe’s Books, Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. Hours: Monday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. (510-849-2087). This is the Bay Area’s version of Strand in New York and Powell’s in Portland. Four floors of used books in all areas; excellent section of United States and African American history, including many recent titles on the fourth floor. While there visit the always interesting Rare Book Room, with its outstanding collection in photography and art. Across the street is The Med (Mediterranean Caffe) for coffee and on the corner Amoeba’s for records and Cody’s for new books and paperbacks. (For film buffs, both Moe’s and The Med were part of the “action” in the film The Graduate.)

▪ Bolerium Books, 2141 Mission St., Suite 300. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (863-6353). The specializations and quality of the collections make this an unusual and rewarding place to visit: American labor and radical history; African American history; Chicano and Asian American studies; Women’s Studies; Gay & Lesbian Studies; Spanish Civil War.
There are some very good Central American and Mexican restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

▪ Meyer Boswell Books, 2141 Mission St., Suite 302. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (255-6400). Next door to Bolerium is an excellent and unusual collection of scholarly books in legal and constitutional history and on the law and trials.

▪ Goldwasser Books, 486 Geary St. Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (292-4698). Books in all fields, including California and the West.

▪ The Brick Row Book Shop, 49 Geary St., Suite 235. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (398-0414). General antiquarian, with a specialization in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English and American literature and general Americana.

▪ Argonaut Book Shop, 786-792 Sutter St. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5pm; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (474-9067). A veteran San Francisco bookstore specializing in Western Americana, Californiana, voyages, and explorations.

▪ City Lights Booksellers. 261 Columbus Ave. Hours: Daily, 10 a.m.-midnight (362-8193). City Lights features mostly new paperbacks and is an ideal place for browsing and rubbing shoulders with the memories of the Beat authors and poets who immortalized this cultural landmark in the 1950s. Owned by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

▪ Schoyer’s Books, Berkeley. Hours: by appointment only (510-548-8038). Books in all fields, excellent Western Americana collection.  Of particular interest to historians is a large collection of WPA guides and special publications.

▪ Green Apple Books, 506 Clement St. Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-midnight (387-2272). Two floors of books, mostly used, some antiquarian; good section in American history, mostly recent publications.

▪ The Bookstall, 570 Sutter St. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (362-6353). Books in all fields.

▪ Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St. Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (415-282-9246). Run by a collective since its inception in l971, Modern Times specializes in a large array of critical and progressive books including contemporary theory and fiction. With an emphasis on small independent presses, they also fill almost any order within a few days.