Manhattan still boasts a vigorous community of used, rare, and antiquarian book dealers, some of whom conduct commerce mostly through the internet, some of whom work from home, and some of whom occupy storefront shops open to the public. And as you will see from this “Walking Tour” article, many of these firms operate from the neighborhood known generally as the Upper East Side of Manhattan, although other neighborhoods also certainly have their own treasured bookshops and dealers. (See the ÆMarchives for the first part of this article, Walking Tour Of New York’s Antiquarian Book Sellers/Part One: Midtown Manhattan; pending articles will deal with other diverse neighborhoods within the borough and the booksellers and firms that can be found there.)
A few notes: although we at ÆM usually have Americana as our central focus, for the purposes of this article we have chosen to broaden our horizons and have created a list of book dealers and firms who specialize in many areas including but also other than Americana, ranging from interior design and gardening to science, medicine, economics, Judaica, artists books, autographs, and many other fields or genres. Whenever possible, we have included additional details about the firms in question. Another editorial note: we have created this list by dedicatedly pruning through many guides and directories and by following leads passed on by others in the book world. If you are a used, rare, or antiquarian book dealer and find that your firm is not listed here, please tell us by writing a Letter to the Editor and including details about your firm and other contact information. Our list of Manhattan book dealers is an ongoing project and we would be more than happy to add your firm to our compilation. Happy book hunting to all of you this lazy summer.
| Dealer Address & Contact Info. | Dealer Specialties and Additional Details |
|---|---|
| Applefeld Gallery 1372 York Avenue (73rd St.) New York, NY 10021 Summer Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10-5 Or By Appointment Telephone: (212) 988-7835 Fax: (212) 876-8915 Email: staff@applefeld.com Name of proprietor(s): Michael Colon | Specialties: Fine Bindings, First Editions, Color Plate Books, Sets, Early Travel Additional Details: “We are a very old firm. We’ve been here almost 40 years and we are an old-fashioned shop. We are very Dickensian, filled with nice old volumes. You can see some very nice books and hold them in your hands here. We give you the opportunity to browse.” (Michael Colon, Proprietor) |
| Polina Aronov 1175 York Avenue, Ste. 11K New York, NY 10021 Summer Hours: By Appointment Telephone: (212) 688-4243 Fax: (212) 838-9391 Email: svetarv@aol.com Name of proprietor(s): Polina Aronov | Specialties: Russian Avante-Garde, Children’s Books, Ephemera, Illustrated Books, Russia Additional Details: “Our business is very much in a state of transition now, but we are very much open to customers,” says Polina Aronov, Proprietor. |
