#13. John K. King Used & Rare Books
📚 JOHN K. KING USED & RARE BOOKS
📍 LOCATION: 901 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸
🕰 HOURS:
Mon: 12pm-4pm
Tue-Sat: 9:30am-5:30pm
Sun: Closed
📲 SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: johnkingbooksdetroit.com
Instagram: @johnkingbooksdetroit
Facebook: /officialjohnkingbooks
America’s largest used and rare bookstore since 1965 with over 1 million books in stock! Housed in Detroit’s old Advance Glove Factory (hence the giant glove painted on the building’s exterior), I had to check out this behemoth book collection for myself.
With over 4 floors to explore, there are free maps at the entrance to help you navigate the giant warehouse, I relied on the expertise of the red-apron-wearing employees to help me scour the shelves for specific titles. Each floor has its own manager and I was blown away by how friendly and knowledgeable they were in finding niche books, especially since the store isn’t catalogued with a computerized search.
Among the rare gems currently available were a signed copy of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, a first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass from 1872, a note written by Jackie Kennedy after the president’s assassination, and a $145,000 original leaf from the 1455 Gutenberg Bible.
I personally picked up a copy of The Writer’s Home Companion: Anecdotes, Comforts, Recollections and Other Amusements for Ever Writer, Editor and Reader from 1989 (my birth year!) and a gorgeous vintage edition of Johnson’s Dictionary from 1963 for my Dad’s collection given our last name is Johnson :)
