Brattle Book Shop

Boston, United States

4.5

20 reviews

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 617-542-0210
Website:
www.brattlebookshop.com
Address:
9 West St, Boston, MA, 02111
b/t Bedford St & Washington St
Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
270 ftTemple Pl @ Washington St
540 ftDowntown Crossing
590 ftDowntown Crossing - to Alewife
QR code
Download QR Image Download vCard

Map

Streetview

Activate map

Today

Today –
Local time (Boston) 11:46 PM Thursday, November 28, 2024

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

We are one of America’s oldest and largest antiquarian book shops. We have over 150,000 used and rare books in all subjects.

History

Established in 1821.

The Brattle Book Shop was founded in the Cornhill section of Boston in 1825 and has been in the hands of the Gloss Family since 1949. Over the years George and his son Kenneth built this shop into one of the largest antiquarian bookshops in the country.

Meet the Business Owner

Kenneth Gloss G.

Business Owner

Ken Gloss is the current proprietor of The Brattle Book Shop. He is a past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America’s New England Chapter. He also sits on the Associate Board of the Boston Public Library. Ken Gloss appraises books and libraries for Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, Simmons, Suffolk, Tufts, Babson, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the FBI and others. He lectures on the antiquarian book field to library groups, historical societies and other book-​interested groups throughout the New England area. Ken Gloss has appeared on numerous local and National television and radio programs talking about books and their values. He also has written many articles on appraising books, book collecting and selling.

Ken gives frequent talks on the topic of old and rare books, with appearances scheduled in and around the Boston metro area. You never know what treasures might be in your own attic!

Vicinity

Near this location:
30
ft
Fajitas & ‘Ritas
25 West St
40
ft
Papagayo Downtown
15 W St
90
ft
Back Deck
2 West St
90
ft
SEIU Local 615
26 West St
110
ft
Ivy Wine Bistro
49 Temple Pl
120
ft
Cheng & Tsui
25 West St

20 reviews of Brattle Book Shop

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Brookline, MA
This is a really interesting bookstore with a variety of books and a unique outdoor alleyway of books. My minus would be that the poetry section was a little lacking, what bookstore doesn’t have any Rilke?
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
so many used books and even series in very good conditions. Unlike some of the reviews here, I find the outdoor book shelves are sorted by genres. I didn’t have to waste time digging each shelf for some random gem.
There are even more inside the store, which is right next to the outdoor garage. They have some seriously good collections. I can spend more than an hour just looking at books and still feel silence very charming.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
This book store has an amazing collection of old books and postcards. There are a bunch of shelvws outside the book store that sell for $ 3 or $ 5. They have a very diverse set of topics but I mostly stayed in the food section. Found some cool booklets from the 50s that gave me valuable insight about how the American diet used to be. I highly recommend!
Place rating: 5
Montgomery Village, MD
If you’re a person who loves old book smell, used books in general and a bargain, well, your heart may just overflow in happiness at the sight of the offerings here. Inside and outside, Brattle has many, many books for you to peruse. You’ll find books you didn’t know you needed… and then some.
It’s not organized very well so if you are looking for something very specific, you may need to ask for help.
But isn’t the fun of a used bookstore just spending hours perusing until you find that hidden gem?
Place rating: 4
New Haven, CT
There are SO many books in this place, and a huge selection of used books for $ 1, $ 3, and $ 5. It was really interesting to look through their selection, and the prices were pretty good.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Smells like a library in here. The shelves are high and stacked with tons and tons of old, used, dusty books. It sounds awful, but if you appreciate books, it’s not at all. Just take your time or you will get overwhelmed or bored.
It’s best to come here if you know what you’re looking or at least know what you like. The middle shelves are organized by subject, like Civil War, Photography, Cooking, etc. Along the left wall is the fiction section organize alphabetically by author. In the back is a teeny illustrated & children’s book section. The shelves to the right side of the store are art books.
They do have a CD collection, too, but I didn’t get a chance to look through it.
Staff is very helpful and knowledgeable. I asked a lovely lady working there if I could find anything on Henry David Thoreau. She took me straight to the shelf they carried all his stuff.
If you’re walking from Boylston Street, be cautious. Your GPS will take you through Mason St. which is very sketchy. I’d recommend just staying on Tremont until you reach West St then turn right. Continue until you see the store at your left side. You won’t miss it. It’s sign is a giant No. 2 pencil.
Place rating: 5
Fleetwood, PA
One of my favorite places in Boston. Their outdoor sale section has had some GREAT finds!
Place rating: 5
Indianapolis, IN
Too freakin cute. An open air bookstore wedged between brick buildings in downtown Boston. You’ll find everything from used gardening books to classics and everywhere in between. There’s also a small indoor section but the books under the sun steal the show. There’s something so peaceful and «right» about an outdoor bookstore/​library. You’ll probably end up spending just as much time taking pictures as flipping thr
Place rating: 5
Watertown, CT
Love this place! Like heaven on earth such cheap, good quality books you can find almost anything
Place rating: 5
Richmond, VA
Book worms and book enthusiasts beware! This is book heaven for those of you out there who love a good read. Take a smell of each book and find that one nestled in the shelves of the book that will change who you are for the better.
I was lucky enough to stumble across this treasure trove during my trip to Boston. This hidden gem is the reason bookstores were invented. As one of the older bookstores, it has a vast array of books to enjoy. I was lucky enough to find a group of books from my childhood that I thought I would never find. These books were the ones my grandmother taught me to read with and the whole collection was found at this store! Reasonably priced, I was over the moon to find them in pristine condition!
The staff was super friendly and helpful in aiding me in where to go to find the subject matters I was also looking for. They boast a large collection of first editions for collectors and have such a large collection of all various types of books, you are bound to find something that sparks your interest. And, for those with a budget, their outdoor carts have clearance priced books as well! Stop in, fill a book tote with as many books as you can! It will be worth the trip.
Place rating: 5
Boston, MA
i could spend hours here. the 3rd floor houses rare books. not everything up there is antique roadshow diamond in the rough, but it’s a great place to read about things you can’t find on google or order on your kindle. not just old books signed by authors or previous owners, but books with notes anonymous readers who wrote their thoughts in the margins. a window in time into the minds of fellow readers ago.
Place rating: 4
Boston, MA
Brattle Book Shop is the best place to kill a lunch hour on nice day downtown. Their outdoor clearance lot has thousands of books to browse in the sunshine, all under $ 5. I can always find something obscure for a friend here: an annotated US Constitution? A collection of popular English holiday verses translated to Yiddish? Marquis de Sade’s «Juliette,» including engravings? Check, check, check.
To be honest, I’ve never spent much time inside the book shop itself — only long enough to pay for my treasures found in the outdoor lot. Bring hand sanitizer, since an hour of riffling through old books can leave hands feeling icky. They do take cards, but if you’re buying a stack of $ 1 books cash is easier (and, I assume, appreciated).
Place rating: 5
Fayetteville, NC
Just spent an hour and a half looking at all floors of this store. Wonderful layout and so many used books at great prices. This was a well loved stop for a man with a book fetish. I found several 1st editions and bought 17 books in total. I felt so lucky and wished I could come back in a week. Now I have something to keep me busy on my flight back tonight.
Place rating: 5
Somerville, MA
One of the stores that makes Boston a great place to live (along with the magnificent public park nearby, and the hustle and bustle of the general area) Boston is a jewel in the crown of the USA and if you visit or live there you should check out this used bookstore.
Place rating: 4
Medford, MA
Very cool, quaint used bookshop off Tremont St. The selection is great and many of the books appear to be unusual or hard to find. A good place to stop if you’re wandering near Boston Common or Downtown Crossing. They even have a shelf devoted to Little Golden Books… very cute.
Be sure to check out the carts of discount books located to the right of the shop itself. There are TONS more books to browse through here. Unfortunately the quality is not quite as high as what’s inside the shop – I’ve never found anything particularly special. But you never know what you might stumble upon.
Place rating: 3
Boston, MA
You find great books here, ranging from classic drama and opera to modern-​ish books, at a very cheap price. I like coming in and looking around their sections to see what new arrivals they have. I like the second floor since it has books from multiple cultures around the world.
They are open Monday to Saturday until 5:30 pm and the staff is super friendly. It’s in the heart of Boston, so it’s a wonderful place to check out, and even buy multiple $ 1 books!
Place rating: 5
Scripps Ranch, San Diego, CA
I loved it here! I would love to live in this bookstore. So cute and quiet. It makes me wish I lived in Boston.
I got amazing books written by Freud (psych major alert). I was very happy! :)
Place rating: 3
Chicago, IL
I popped in here after a movie because I love book shops. I was disappointed about how unorganized it was. I understand that it is part of its charm to be disorganized and I might change my mind when it isn’t so crowded. I’ll have to drop in on a weekday.
Place rating: 4
Cambridge, MA
As much as I enjoy shopping at Brattle Book Shop, I do need to say that if you are selling books, their offers are stunningly low.
If you are selling books, I recommend trying other places, including the other local book stores in Boston and Cambridge, and even Amazon. (It’s easy to set up a seller’s account.)
Here are two very recent examples: I took in a perfect copy of a signed first edition by a famous author and they offered me five dollars. The young man who looked at it said, «We see these all the time.» He always tells you how your book has condition issues even if it is new and unread.
I listed it on Amazon and within 24 hours I sold it for $ 250.
Second time: More or less the same. I was told that a set of rare books was worth «nothing» and that I should donate them to a library sale. Then he said, with great reluctance, that he could give me $ 25 for the set.
Fortunately I had done my research. No thanks. I listed them on Craigslist and had a happy buyer within 24 hours. He paid me $ 550.
I’m not sure why this happens, but it really pays to do your research before you sell there. I know it is a business, but that is just seriously bad form, in my opinion.
Better for the buyer than for the seller in here. And I do buy here all the time.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Probably one of my favorite bookstores in Boston. I love general used book stores to begin with… old books shouldn’t just be thrown away. They are real treasures! (plus, reading is sexy all around)
So, check out Brattle Book Shop when you get a chance… you’ll find yourself getting lost among the aisles and rows of books… both indoors and outdoors!