Brattle Book Shop
Book store · Downtown
9 West St, Boston, MA 02111
Highlights
Three floors of used books, rare finds, and outdoor book carts.
Three floors of used books, rare finds, and outdoor book carts.
"In the heart of Boston’s downtown, carts and shelves of $1, $3, and $5 books fill an alley off of West Street. The seller: Brattle Bookshop, a store that encompasses three floors of used books, the top one filled with rare collectibles. Its purveyor, Ken Gloss, is a regular appraiser on the PBS’ Antiques Roadshow and has gained modest fame among antiquers and public-television addicts. Independent bookshops attract an eclectic mix of characters, and that’s as much a part of the experience as the books themselves. Curmudgeonly regulars, bespectacled students, and travelers who value a good read all make Brattle Bookshop an institution. Even the famously reclusive J.D. Salinger stopped here once." - Paul Rubio, Todd Plummer
"It’s here that you’ll find Brattle Book Shop, one of the country’s oldest antique book shops, located steps from the Common."
Family-run since 1949, this 200-year-old bookshop’s outdoor sale lot makes browsing an experience—and it’s free to linger. Shouted out by national lifestyle and travel editors as a Boston original.
"A family-run used bookstore a stone’s throw from the Boston Common, Brattle Book Shop houses over 250,000 items — books, postcards, maps, and odds and ends — and, having opened in 1825, is one of the oldest bookstores in the country with first editions and antiques that any book lover shouldn’t miss." - Matthew Kepnes
"I love browsing the Brattle Book Shop, a family-run used bookstore dating to 1825 that houses over 250,000 books, maps, postcards, and odds and ends, including an impressive collection of first editions and antiques." - Matthew Kepnes
