So with a less physical couple of days at hand, I have time to engage in some book hunting. While Utah does not have any kind of organized antiquarian booksellers organization like those I've come to appreciate in my jaunts in northern New England in the last year or so, we do have some fine used book stores so I'll report on most of them over time.
Today's first stop was Eborn Books. They have several locations in Utah and not having been to their store in downtown Salt Lake City, that was my first goal. Much to my surprise, they are recently moved in (and still very much unpacking as a later photo will show) and are in the original location of the most iconic of all Utah used book stores, Sam Weller's! I guess it must be destiny for that location to have a biblio presence.
Eborn bills itself as Utah's largest bookstore and after having spent a couple of hours there, I would agree. When I asked the staffer at the main desk how what he thought might be a ballpark estimate of the number of books in the store, he simply smiled and said "I won't even hazard a guess." It was hard to tell as the placement of shelves and unboxing of book from their effort to consolidate four of their stores is still very much a work in progress, but I think clearly over 150,000 books are in the store and that might be a low ball guess.
The store has three levels. The main entry level, a mezzanine level, and a cavernous basement level. It also has a fine coffee shop complete with very tasty pastries! I found the organization of the books a bit cumbersome for my needs. Since I collect primarily in the genera of natural history, I always look for a nature or ecology section. They had neither that I could find. I did find an "animals" section that had everything from pet books to field guides, to hunting and fishing tomes to nature writings. But, while it was disorganized, my annoyance was much assuaged by the fact that there were a lot of books in this section so I had a lot to choose from. When I wandered down to the basement, it proved to be the land of many empty and often somewhat didactically placed bookshelves and, along with a goodly number of books on the shelves, a vast number of boxes of book that were obviously part of the recent store consolidation efforts and awaiting staff time to get them on the shelves.
I was able to find a "science" section downstairs that contained books a bit more oriented on that topic but still had a smattering of animal and hunting and fishing books along with a bit of natural history. Clearly I will need to go back when all the boxes are unpacked and spent a few more hours perusing those which have yet to find a home on the shelves.
As is not uncommon, I did find a book that I was not looking for! One of my focal points in collecting are anthologies and accounts of 18th and 19th century naturalist in America. So it was a rush to stumble across (deep in the animal section mind you!) a compact little volume entitled Pioneer Naturalists: The Discovery and Naming of North American Plants and Animals by Howard Ensign Evans. In a somewhat different style as compared to most biographical accounts of our early naturalists, in which the common practice is to have chapters which are accounts of their travels, this book has chapters about various wildlife and plant species and the individual who is associated with the common and/or scientific name. Among those species included are the Baird's sandpiper (Spencer Fullerton Baird), the plant genus Fremontia ( John Charles Fremont), the Townsend's mole (John Kirk Townsend), and the Queen Anne's Lace (Queen Anne of England.) It will be a delightful read I am confident on one of the soon-to-come winter days. Snug and sitting near my radiating wood stove with a fine mug of French roast, I'll explore the naming of many of our American plants and animals and be prepared to wow the uninitiated with trivia at a future gathering of friends!
I'll make it a point in all posts to provide the location and contact info on the store I post about. If you go to any of them, I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Eborn Books. 254 S Main. Salt Lake City, UT. (801)359-0460 Bret & Cindy Eborn. ebornbk@hotmail.com . www.ebornbooks.com They do have most of their books inventories and on line so you can search their inventory before going to the store if you wish. They also have store in Odgen and Provo and those locations are listed on the website.
Until the next store beckons, I bid you great hunting and a satisfying read!
