Honest Intellectual Inquiry:

Great Bookstores & Book Searches Online

No matter how great the Web is, there is much pleasure to be received by reading real books. So go ahead. Try one today!
Shameless plug: Please support your local independent book store(s). They're a dying breed.

I have divided my Books page into the following subjects for your convenience:

Bookstores and Book Searches

Book-Related Resources

Bookstores and Book Searches

ABooksearch.com Search service for old, rare & out-of-print books directly from the bookseller.
Abracadabra Booksearch International Searches for rare, scarce, & OP books in their store, plus elsewhere.
AddALL Book Search & Price Comparison For new and used books.
Advanced Book Exchange Searches, stores belonging to ABE, free bookstore software, links.
Charles Agvent: Rare Books and Autographs Some interesting books here.
Alibris Source for OP & Rare Books. Recommended!
William H. Allen Bookseller Used, rare & antiquarian books on a variety of subjects such as history, science, etc.
Antiquariaat Forum Rare booksellers in the Netherlands; click on "Stocklist" to view their catalog.
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America Listings of neat stores, searches, catalogs, & more.
Argonaut Book Shop Specializing in California history & related. Judging from the number of recent acquisitions already sold, this store does quite well. Check it out.
Asian Rare Books Art, history, & other books.
Atomic Books: Literary Finds for Mutated Minds Need an open mind for this site.
Steve Bartrick Antique Prints and Maps Nice site specializing in really old maps and prints.
Best Web Buys Comparison book shopping with a search engine.
Between the Covers Fiction for the serious collector, according to their catalogs.
Biblio: Used, Rare & Out-of-Print Books A place to buy their books, or sell yours.
Biblioctopus High quality, sought-after items, with prices to match! Just rediscovered again!
Blackwell's Online Bookshop New books from Blackwell Publishers in England.
Blake's Books: Fine Used Books for Scholars & Readers Personally recommended for non-fiction. NOTE: Sadly, this bookseller seems to be out of business. Please notify me if this isn't the case.
BMD Books First editions of OP mystery, science fiction & fantasy. Generally reasonable prices.
Book Byte Textbooks New and used college textbooks at really good prices. Check it out.
BookFinder.com Search for Out of Print, Used & New Books, & compare prices etc. Recommended!
BookFinders International Ltd. In England; free searches.
Book Look Search service, plus their own used books, magazines, etc. Some interesting stuff, but possibly high prices.
BookMine A treasure-trove of miscellany from medieval manuscript leaves to the Gold Rush, & more.
Books & Book Collecting Searchable Booksites Neat search engine to locate books at over 2 dozen stores & search services. Try it!
booksamillion.com Another discount bookstore.
BOOKSEARCH: Comparison Shop for Books Online Everything from rare to new to technical books & more.
BookWeb The website of the American Booksellers Assoc., with news & more on the ABA.
BookWire Homepage News for the book industry.
Book Wormer To quote their site: "We don't sell books! We merely help you find the cheapest books!" link.
Meyer Boswell Books Features law books, law in politics, history, & more.
Bowker's BooksInPrint.com (TM) Available: Catalogs, CDs & directories of books in print/op, etc.
The Brattle Book Shop Collectible oddities in fiction and nonfiction. Worth a look.
Broder's Rare & Used Books Many categories.
Cartographic Arts Rare & antique maps, books & prints available. Click on maps for larger images.
Cloak and Dagger Books "World's largest dealer in new & out-of-print books on Intelligence & related fields."
Cody's Books New books.
Cohasco, Inc. Books, ephemera & collectibles offered by auction and direct sale. Some neat stuff here.
Dangerous Visions Bookstore New Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror & more.
Dawson's Book Shop Quality used books on Californiana. It's 100 years old now! Check out the article in Americana Exchange: link.
Deja View Antique Maps and Prints Nice old maps & prints for sale.
Direct Textbooks A website to compare prices on available new and used college texts, search or browse, and try out their newsletter.
Fictionwise eBooks Available e-books, even a few for free, with a rating (good - poor) for each by readers.
Sean Fagan Rare Books Choice books for the collector.
Ferrini Home Page Books, illuminated manuscripts, cuneiform clay tablets (!) & more. Gotta see this.
Robert Gavora Fine & Rare Books Western Americana, Civil War, Mystery, Railroading, & Science Fiction.
Bennett Gilbert Rare Books Good selection on history, philosophy, incunabula & more.
Michael Ginsberg Books Books covering the history of the North American continent.
Glaser Rare Books Specializes in science & technology.
Gravelly Run Antiquarians Books in fiction & nonfiction, good selection.
Great Epic Books On Africa, T.E. Lawrence & more.
Great Northwestern Bookstore Specializing in Western Americana & Frontiers (mainly non-fiction)
Hackenberg Books Primarily (European) history, linguistics & religion.
Payson Hall Books Civil War & Americana, Travel, & Ireland are specialties.
Higginson Book Co. Publishers, Printers & Booksellers Specializing in History & Genealogy. All kinds of resources, but some prices a bit high.
Janus Books, Ltd. Detective, Mystery & Suspense fiction, incl. Sherlockiana. Quality stock.
Joppa Books, Ltd. Located in England, with Near and Middle East books, some in Arabic and French. (Need updated browser.)
Joslin Hall Rare Books An unusual, fascinating selection of non-fiction books with entertaining descriptions. Includes a section on graves, cemeteries & epitaphs.
Julian's Books Rare and collectible, covering all fields and subjects including fiction. An interesting collection with a large price range.
Left Bank Books An independent bookstore in St. Louis with a good general selection.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books Many rare books/pamphlets/etc. on Americana. A must-see for the specialist.
Lopez Books Specializes in modern literary first editions, inc. some science fiction.
Main Street Fine Books and manuscripts. Clicking on "Books" gives you an idea of the vast subject matter.
Charles McKee Books Also Fedogan & Bremer Pubs.; neat place.
Moe's Books Great used books, located just up the (real) street from Cody's.
Natural History Book Service A mailorder bookstore in England with new books on natural history.
The Obscure Store & Reading Room Definitely odd 'zine store ("R" rated? material) with links to news, gossip, Wall Street, tech & other stuff.
Papyrus Books & Antiquities And including ancient artifacts, numismatics & archaeology references from the Mediterranean & Near East classical world. Worth a look.
Parmer Books Primarily Travel, Maritime & Western Americana.
James Pepper Rare Books: Current Lists Quality fiction & film books, & film ephemera.
Powell's Bookstore - used, new, & out of print books Gigantic selection at reasonable prices. Where Amazon.com gets their used books! (Thanks, Jon.)
Priapean Tomes Gay (inc. pulp) fiction, art & history. WARNING: Not for those under age 18!
Second Story Books Used and rare books covering a wide variety of topics.
SFF Net's Basement Full of Books A chance to buy a favorite Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror author's book directly from him/her.
Significant Books Home Page Specializing in science & technology op/rare books.
Tavistock Books Focusing on Dickens.
C. Clayton Thompson - Bookseller: Civil War, Military History & Collectible Books
Thorn Books Rare, OP books on early Britain, Western Americana, literature & modern firsts.
Tlon Books Used history books on many world areas, inc. nice Middle East selection. British prices.
Tuttle Antiquarian Books Specializing in genealogy, regional Americana, miniature books & Orientalia.
J. Tuttle Maritime Books Rare & OP books on everything sea-related, mostly nonfiction.
Len Unger -- Rare Books Fiction: signed, 1st editions, etc.
The Veatchs Arts of the Book Specializing in books on printing history, bookbinding, history of the book, private presses and much more. They also purchase collections and single fine books.
Jeff Weber Rare Books Scholarly works, many OP and in the original language, on the Sciences.
Xerxes Books Home Page Scholarly & op books in a variety of fields.
Mark Ziesing Books Wonderful source of new SF, Fantasy & Horror; Small-press publisher. Recommended!

Book-Related Resources

AbbreviationZ Search, and browse acronyms and abbreviations by category.
Acronym Finder Find out the real meaning of all those incomprehensible abbreviated "words" you hear.
a.k.a. Check out how many pseudonyms your favorite writer has had!
AcqWeb For librarians & others interested in acquisitions & collection development.
ABAA Book Collecting Links Everything you ever wanted to know about collecting.
The Alcuin Society A Canadian society for lovers of books, the book arts, fine printing and reading.
American Booksellers Found. for Free Expression In defense of free speech.
American Dialect Society Dedkcated to the study of American English, and includes the Linguist Listserv, news and publications, incl. sponsorship of DARE below.
American Library Association Americana Exchange For those (historians, librarians etc.) who sell, buy, and collect old books on Americana. Lots of articles and other neat stuff with a free or paid membership. Enjoy.
The Complete Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry The index includes several books of the Bible, three different versions of The Lord's Prayer, as well as more secular items such as The Dream of the Rood and Caedmon's Hymn. link.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle An early "history" of England, originally compiled on the orders of King Alfred c. 890 AD, and subsequently maintained and added to until 1154. The latter (untranslated) entries are Middle English.
The Association of American University Presses Online Catalog New books available to AAUP members from University Presses.
Atlantic Unbound (The Atlantic Monthly online)
Banished Words Online An annual list of misused, overused, and useless words. Fun.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1901)
Beowulf on Steorarume (Beowulf in Cyberspace) Old English and translation. Great for line-by-line research; an extremely well-done Danish website.
The Bibliographical Society The British society for the study of the book and its history.
Book Binding Tutorials & Reference Part of The Book Arts Web As you can see from the bookbinding tutorials above, this site has just about everything about books. Check it out.
Book Collecting Software
Book Sources and Info Includes some of the links here, plus others.
BOOK TV.ORG Book discussions on C-SPAN.
Books & Book Collecting, from Trussel's EclectiCity Recommended. And check out SetMaker while you're there - find that missing volume for FREE!
The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer's (1342-1400) opus magnum in both Middle English and Modern English, including a glossary, audio files, and links to Chaucer's biography and his times.
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress American literary projects, publications, news and more.
The Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature From the U.K. Don't miss their Andy Capp collection.
Common Errors in English Interesting, informative and fun.
The Copyright Website All about it.
DARE: Dictionary of American Regional English A work-in-progress (4 of 5 volumes published). Here is an article on the project.
Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls An exhibit at Stanford Univ. on early paperbacks. Neat.
H.W. Fowler's The King's English, 1908.
French Literature Links Local and off-site lit links, mainly in French.
Glossary of Technical Terms in book descriptions. Easy to understand, with illustrations. On Fagan's website (above), but applicable to most book descriptions.
Grimm's Law The pronunciation "law" in Indo-European linguistics.
The Grolier Club America's oldest bibliophile society, with a research library, public exhibitions and publications.
The Great Vowel Shift The "event" in the English language that made it sound the way it does today: the terminology, sounds, it's effect on literature and more.
HEL (History of the English Language) Website Includes the discussion list as well as links to websites on the history of English and more.
History of Children's Literature Short overview.
History of the Book Research Centre Links Neat site for printing history in Great Britain and America.
Hungry Mind Review: Top 100 Fiction & Non-Fiction Books Check the home page while you're there.
Idiomsite.com A page of idioms and sayings and, one hopes, their meanings.
Independent Online Booksellers Association An organization whose existence is long overdue. Support independent booksellers and check their book-related links.
The Internet Book List A work in progress (which may never be finished) on authors and their works.
The Internet Public Library Includes online texts, serial publications and newspapers, all searchable. Neat!
The Invisible Library "A collection of books that only appear within other books" - what a neat premise for a website.
Letterpress Printing Information on and history of the printing press.
LIBCAT: Guide to Library Resources on the Internet Libraries worldwide, public databases & more.
Libraries and Culture Interdisciplinary journal on the collection of knowledge in time and space.
Library of Congress Home Page
Libweb Library servers worldwide (over 90 countries), updated daily.
Linguistic Resources on the Internet All kinds of linguistic material links here.
Literary Resources on the Net A search engine and links.
Malinche Entertainment: Interactive fiction Usually a couple of stories being interactively written online by viewers (including mystery, historical, fantasy & horror fiction, and games of various kinds). Try it.
Don Markstein's Toonopedia A wonderful resource for comic book fans, from Buck Rogers to the Simpsons and, of course, Disney. This man knows his stuff! Recommended.
Media History Monographs Interesting journal on journalistic efforts of the last two centuries in the U.S.
Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts Beautiful examples grouped by subject matter as well as a search engine and manuscript historical background.
H.L. Mencken Quotes
The Middle English Collection at the Electronic Text Center, UVa Looks like most are available to non-students of UVa also.
The Modern Word Mega-site on modern fiction and writing in general, including interviews and essays on writers, literary links and recommended resources, and more. A must-see for those getting started in writing.
The Most of Special Collections from the University of Virginia Library, fascinating items to view, from the "Most Beautiful" to "Most Frightening." Plan a long visit! link.
Mystery Index page of Ultimate Mystery/Detective Web Guide
The New York Review of Books Excellent source for reviews and commentary of new books, fiction and nonfiction, with an Online Archives to search articles as far back as November 1966. Recommended!
The Online Books Page And while you're there, if you're curious, there's Banned Books Online: Info on censorship of all kinds. Warning: Some material might be considered offensive.
Online Dictionary Free access to this and the encyclopedia and thesaurus that are also accessable here.
Online Dictionary of Slang of English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom.
Online Slang Dictionary A dictionary of English slang terms, primarily American English but including elsewhere also. Recommends caution due to some of the terminology being possibly offensive to some.
Oxford English Dictionary The one indispensible dictionary, for purchase or paid subscription only, unfortunately.
AskOxford: the Free Online Dictionary Resource from the Oxford English Dictionary, with "Ask the Experts", better writing, games, foreign languages, etc. Fun resource.
Oxymorons.Info The wonderful contortions of the English language for all to see and discuss.
Bud Plant's Incredible Catalog Comics, Prints, Movie Posters, Books - A comics collector's paradise. (Cookies galore.)
Playwrights on the Web A database of playwrights and their websites. Good resource.
PoemHunter.com The poetry (and poet) search engine.
Preditors & Editors "A guide to publishers and writing services for serious writers!" Lots of info.
Project Gutenberg Index "Fine Literature Digitally Re-Published" on the 'Net. Very ambitious.
Project Muse Online Journals Full-text literary & other journals online, paid subscription necessary.
PubList.com: The Internet Directory of Publications Mainly print magazines, searchable by category etc.
The Pulitzer Prizes From 1917 to the present.
Pulp Fiction Central at the Vintage Library It's here - all you love and hate about pulp fiction.
Questia Online library of Books and Journals - a subscription-based service for access to books and articles not available for free.
The Richmond Review Interesting book reviewing source from England, including articles on writing and more. Investigate.
A Romantic Chronology A timeline of Romantic writers and their times.
Romanticism on the Net with articles, reviews, and site links.
William Shakespeare - The Complete Works How can a website on the English Language be complete without Shakespeare? Well, it can't. So here it is. link.
SHARP Web Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing; great resources for all aspects.
The St. Martin's Handbook Check their links too. link.
Strunk's The Elements of Style (1918) Still a standard writer's reference.
"Ten Things You Didn't Know about Your Books," from Adrian Johns' The Nature of the Book.
Theatre History on the Web Resources for the student.
Thesaurus.com Find synonyms and antonyms of words you might be using too much.
The [London] Times Higher Education Supplement Scads of interesting articles, but to view most of each article you'll need to subscribe to the Supplement, and pay, either over the Internet or otherwise. Sorry.
Urban Dictionary Define Your World: enter a word or phrase and a definition for it. Kind of like Wikipedia, if you're familiar with that (see below).
Using Primary Sources on the Web A good resource for documenting your website.
Kay E. Vandergrift's Special Interest Page Children & young adult literature, professional writing & copyright resources, and more.
"What We All Spoke When the World Was Young" From the New York Times Science section, a group of articles on the origins of language and people. You'll need to register (free) to participage in discussions and read in-depth articles.
Wikipedia An interactive encyclopaedia (in English, French, German, Japanese and more) made by those using the Net with specialized knowledge in an area. Check it out.
WordNet: A Lexical Database for English A kind of thesaurus. link.
WordOrigins.org Words and phrases and where they came from. Similar to IdiomSite above.
Words Without Borders The online magazine of international literature. A great source for travel literature.
World Wide Words Home Page The history, quirks, curiosities & evolution of English. Marvellous & fascinating info here, I think. Great articles too.
Writers' Guidelines Directory For those who want to write. Includes resources. Also check out their home page.
Writers' Net - Literary Agents
Danny Yee's Book Reviews From Africa to fiction to zoology.

Webpage launched October 19, 1998
Latest additions and corrections January 19, 2008
Latest links verifications September 07, 2007
© 1998 - 2008

Counter supplied by BoingDragon's Lair and added January 01, 2005.

Thanks to Dillenger's Backgrounds, where I found the nifty paper.

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