UNITED STATES: CITIES: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA :
BOOKS: BOOK STORES :
HISTORY:
Leary's Book Store



Leary's Book Store



Leary's book store
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leary's_book_store>


Learys Book Store was a landmark in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
for nearly one hundred years. In 1969, when it closed, it was known as the
oldest book store in the United States.

Contents

1 Downtown location
2 Building structure
3 A famous trademark, of sorts
4 Function
5 Origin
6 Closure
7 For further reading
8 Sea also
9 Reference


Downtown location

Learys Book Store (later renamed Leary, Stuart, and Co.) was located in
the heart of the downtown district of Philadelphia at 9 South 9th Street,
a short distance from Market Street.

The very large Gimbels Department Store occupied the corner of 9th and
Market, and the relatively tiny Learys Book Store on 9th Street was
separated from it by a small cobble stoned alleyway.


Building structure

Learys Book Store was contained in a large three-story building with
basement and sloped roof. The building consisted of three floors and a
basement full of books. On the third floor, an opening in the floor
allowed a view of the mezzanine down below.

Additional books were placed outside on shelves on the Learys side of the
alleyway separating it from Gimbels. Some provision was made to shelter
the books and the readers in the alley way, but, most of the time, the
books and browsers, suffered the inclemency of the outdoor Philadelphia
weather.

Throughout the building, numerous used books were everywhere: on wall
shelves and piled high on tables for readers to browse through. The policy
of the bookstore was not to interfere with readers and browsers, but
simply to direct customers to their areas of interest if asked.


<snip>



learys bookstore receipt
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/76283671@N00/157834642/>


This is a picture Leary's Old Book Store
<http://books-rare.blogspot.com/2006/07/
this-is-picture-learys-old-book-store.html>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/6969cy>



Gimbels
<http://libwww.library.phila.gov/HIP/HIPSearchItem.cfm?ItemID=pdcl00084>



Philadelphia Leary's Book Store
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/harold_stern/2842875451/>



Advertisement

<http://books.google.com/books?id=IuQRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT58&lpg=
PT58&dq=%22Leary's+Book+Store%22&source=web&ots=nR1QLiZZZY&
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en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPT35,M1>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5rsylp>

Book News
By National Book League (Great Britain)
Published by , 1901
Item notes: v. 19 (Sept. 1900 - Aug. 1901)
Original from the New York Public Library
Digitized Nov 27, 2007

Contents

Abercromble H R Rise and Fall of Kruger 32

Treasure Island, Pine Knot, Patroon
Abridged Grammar of the Blue Language 46

Saturday Review, Dyer Ball, Rodan
Addlson David D Clergy In American Land 70

Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, Ralph Connor, Charles Frederic Goss
Afleld and Afloat Frank R Stockton 98

Anne Gilchrist, GOLDEN LEGEND, WALT WHITMAN
Allen Joseph Antlcell obituary 104

Emile Gaboriau, Lucas Malet, Marie Corelli
American Engineer In China William Barclay 111

Irving Bacheller, Henry Harland, Eben Holden

Picturesque and Descriptive Joel 140

Quarto, lustrated, G. A. Henty
Ames Joseph S Elements of Physics 229

J. M. Barrie, Henry Harland, Anthony Hope
Babylonia and Assyria Kobert William Rog 243

William Shakespeare, OLIVER CROMWELL, Huguenot
Ballantyne Helen Campbell 260

Conrad Weiser, Giorgio Vasari, HENRY FIELDING
Barr Amelia E Maid of Maiden Lane 270

Faversham, W. D. Howells, Helmet of Navarre
Caddlck Helen White Woman in Central

China and the Present Crisis Joseph Walton Daniel OConnell Robert Dunlop
71

Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Lucas Malet, Charles Frederic Goss
Clifford Mrs William KIngdon Likeness of Diary of a Freshman Charles M
Flandrau 118

Colquhoun Archibald R Russia Against In Domestic Service Lucy Maynard
Salmon 234

Column Charles Marriott 559 Donegal Fairy Tales Seumas MacManus 325

Cook Herbert Giogione 425

Corbett Julian Successors of Drake 247 EasbeySmith James S Alcaeus 715
Easter 447

PUBLISHED MONTHLY 753

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HAROLD MACGRATH 764

MAGAZINES 772

SARA BEAUMONT KENNEDY 784

REVIEWS 796

ASKED AND ANSWERED 806



Bentzman
Suburban Soliloquy 106.
My Father's Books
<http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers/131subs.htm>

It didn't come right away. My love of books was ignited when I was ten
years old and I began accompanying my father to Leary's Book Store in
Philadelphia. We would start at Gimbel's on Chestnut Street where my
mother preferred to shop. We were self-exiled New Yorkers and Gimbel's was
the only department store whose name my mother recognized. She thought of
it as a New York transplant, just like herself, and she remained loyal to
New York, hating Philadelphia's provincialism and narrow streets. In
Manhattan, Gimbel's was across the street from Macy's at Herald Square and
Macy's had always been her first choice, but there was no Macy's in
Philadelphia at this time. The fact is, Gimbel's came first to
Philadelphia in 1894 and then to Manhattan in 1910.

My father and I would leave my mother to shop at Gimbel's and exit out the
rear of the store. Leary's Book Store was on 9th Street just south of
Market, a tremendous three-story building, the last of what was a row of
early 19th Century buildings, but now Leary's pressed smack up against the
back of a gigantic Gimbel's. A large signboard on the front of Leary's
bore an oversized copy of 19th Century romantic painter Carl Spitzweg's
The Bookworm. This painting portrayed an elderly scholar in long coattails
standing atop a stepladder in a dense library. He holds one book to his
face, but other books are grasped under his arm and between his legs. Into
this cavernous bookstore my father would lead me. Books crammed the walls
and were piled high on tables. A large hole offered a view of the second
floor mezzanine also crowded with books. Among these treasures I was
converted.

That first important book, which would begin my collection, was Jules
Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It had beautiful
hand-colored illustrations and it had been printed on rag paper for the
Limited Editions Club by the Plantin Press of Los Angeles.




A Short History of Larry Robin & Robin's Book Store
<http://www.robinsbookstore.com/about/history.html>


Visiting Turn-of-the-century Philadelphia: Philadelphia
By Lynn M. Homan, Thomas Reilly
Published by Arcadia Publishing, 1999
ISBN 0738502383, 9780738502380
128 pages
Page 74

<http://books.google.com/books?id=uyTtYm4UpoUC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=
%22Leary's+Book+Store%22&source=web&ots=jfpmq2lmce&sig=8LVdcwz01RkZNWH4-
s5ssV53DdU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5jjl92>



Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace
By Federal Writers' Project, Writers' Program of the Work Projects
Administration in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Federal Writers'
Project
Published by US History Publishers
ISBN 160354058X, 9781603540582
704 pages
Page 402
<http://books.google.com/books?id=HBhehuI5dbEC>

Contents
PORTRAIT OF PHILADELPHIA 3
Delaware River, Pennsylvania Railroad, skyscrapers
NATURES HANDIWORK 11
Schuylkill Rivers, Lenni-Lenape, Walking Purchase
THE SAGA OF A CITY 20
Phila, Fort Beversrede, Tacony-Palmyra Bridge
OLD WAYS AND OLD TALES 88
scrapple, Mummers, Independence Day
THE IMPRINT OF NATIONS 98
Jews, Mikveh Israel, South Philadelphia
GOVERNMENTAL MACHINERY 109
Stephen Girard, Men's Party, Philadelphia Electric Company

more
THE CITYS CULTURAL ASPECTS 159
Philadelphia Orchestra, Rittenhouse Square, Walnut Street Theatre
Architecture The City of Yesterday and Today 256
Greek Revival, University of Pennsylvania, Paul Philippe Cret
INDEPENDENCE SQUARE GROUP 319
Congress Hall, West Wing, Independence Square
CARPENTERS HALL 339
Betsy Ross, Flemish bond, Continental Congress
THE POWEL HOUSE 345
Powel House, John Frederick Lewis, caryatids
FRANKLIN INSTITUTE AND THE FELS PLANETARIUM 353
Planetarium, steam engine, ILLUMINA
PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM OF ART 360
Fra Angelico, west wing, Pesellino
GIRARD COLLEGE 370
UNITED STATES MINT, sarcophagus, Corinthian Columns
ROADS AND RAMBLES IN AND AROUND THE CITY 377
Filbert Streets, GIRARD TRUST COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA'S CITY HALL
WHERE THE FATHERS WALKED 385
Elfreth's Alley, entablature, Pennsylvania Hospital
TO THE SCHUYLKILLS BANK City Tour 431
Rittenhouse Square, Delancey Street, Josef Hofmann
LONGEST STRAIGHT STREET 441
Charles Willson Peale, League Island, Simon & Simon
HISTORIC GERMANTOWN City Tour 475
Germantown Academy, Battle of Germantown, Grumblethorpe
WEST PHILADELPHIA 491
City Line Ave, Schuylkill Arsenal, J. G. Brill Company
THROUGH INDUSTRIAL PHILADELPHIA City Tour 513
type metal, City Line Ave, Frankford Creek
ALONG THE WATER FRONT City Tour 533
Catharine Street, Sweden, SETTLEMENT MUSIC SCHOOL
FAIRMOUNT PARK 547
Boathouse Row, Schuylkill Navy, Philadelphia Zoo
THE TREELINED PARKWAY City Tour 575
Rodin Museum, FRIENDS SELECT SCHOOL, LOGAN CIRCLE
AROUND PENNS CAMPUS City Tour 587
Franklin Field, Cyrus H. K. Curtis, Irvine Auditorium
Hills and Dales of the Wissahickon 601
COBBS CREEK, Pennypack Creek, Wissahickon Creek
JAUNTS TO THE ENVIRONS 628
Fort Mifflin, Kennett Square, Graeme Park
CHRONOLOGY 686
Andrew Bradford, Francis Daniel Pastorius, Germantown Academy
INDEX 692

Mosaic The Dream Garden after 255
Robert Mills, Georgian style, Latrobe
The Chew Mansion 269
Romanesque, French Renaissance, mansard roof
Swimming Pool at the Carl Mackley House 275
Thomas Say, David Rittenhouse, Paul Philippe Cret
Natural Habitat Exhibits 291
William Shippen, Benjamin Rush, John Morgan
Courtesy of Hahnemann 298
Philadelphia County, almshouse, Salvation Army
Kalmar 317
Independence Square, West Wing, Congress Hall
Benjamin Franklins Chair Ritter 338
Betsy Ross, American flag, rostrum
The Powel House Ritter 345
Powel House, FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, John Frederick Lewis
Franklin Institute by Night Egan 354
Fra Angelico, west wing, Pesellino
Art Museum and the Old Water Works Kalmar 372
Sarcophagus, ingots, anneal
United States Mint Drawing by Palmer 378
Filbert Streets, PHILADELPHIA'S CITY HALL, train shed
St Georges Methodist Church 384
EDGAR ALLAN POE, WANAMAKER'S DEPARTMENT STORE, Belgian marble
Benjamin Franklins Grave 390
Elfreth's Alley, Christ Church, BETSY ROSS
Christ Church Doorway 397
Mercantile Library, Gimbel Brothers, JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE
Mikveh Israel Cemetery Drawing 405
Rebecca Gratz, WALNUT STREET THEATRE, George Arliss
William Penn Statue Pennsylvania 419
Camac Street, Josef Hofmann, Pickwick Papers
Sailing Boat Drawing by Giordano 434
Battle of Germantown, Schuylkill Arsenal, Grumblethorpe
Rittenhouse Square Ritter 437

Ridgway Library Ritter 446

Academy of Fine Arts Ritter 454

Observatory at Central High School Kalmar 460

Germantown Academy Highton 482

The Billmeyer House Barnum 488

Convention Hall Kalmar 494

U S Naval Home Kalmar 502

Wynnestay Kalmar 509

Stetson Hat Company Courtesy of John 516

Plant of J G Brill Co Kalmar 522

Delaware River Bridge Egan 536

Indian Medicine Man Ritter 550

Schuylkill River from West River Drive Ritter 556

Old Solitude Himes 563

Letitia Street House Ritter 569

Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul Himes 577

Train Drawing by Palmer 585

Irvine Auditorium Ritter 591

Statue of Benjamin Franklin Ritter 598

Rittenhouse Mill Carter 606

Indian Statue Barnum 613

Concrete Bridge over Pennypack Creek Egan 620

Cobbs Creek Park Trail Ritter 626




Auction catalogue from the sale of the Leary's Book Store copy of an
original copy of the Declaration of Independence.
<http://www.betweenthecovers.com/btc/item/52587>



Printing, Publishing and Bookselling Collections
<http://library.temple.edu/collections/special_collections/printing.jsp>


The Collection actively collects printing and book binding manuals,
type-specimen books, binding dies, printing-image carriers and
booksellers' catalogs (one of the regional union collections - PEW/PACSCL
Program). Included are the libraries and ephemera collections of William
Lickfield and Richard W. Ellis (Georgian Press). The early history of
lithography is represented in depth both by manuals and by examples of
English and European books and reproductive facsimiles in pre -1850
lithography.


Archives and manuscript groups representing the manufacturing and trade of
books are well represented at Temple with

The Director's Files of Constable & Co., London (Michael Sadleir and Otto
Kyllmann)

The Archives of Leary & Co., Philadelphia (Leary's Book Store)

The Archives of Thomas Nelson & Sons (U.S. Office, Masnel)

The Archives of Beck Engraving Co., Philadelphia

The Archives of William Campbell, Bookseller and Publisher.

The Papers of Richard Williamson Ellis (Georgian Press, Curtis Publishing,
Haddon Craftsmen and Kingsport Press)




Full text of "Forty years among the old booksellers of Philadelphia, with
bibliographical remarks"
<http://www.archive.org/stream/
fortyyearsamongo00brotuoft/fortyyearsamongo00brotuoft_djvu.txt>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5d6emf>



Google Images

<http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rls=DAUS,DAUS:2006-11,DAUS:
en&q=%22Leary's%20Book%20Store%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/6hlsnc>



Google News Archive

<http://news.google.com/archivesearch?hl=en&rls=DAUS,DAUS:
2006-11,DAUS:en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tab=in&q=%22Leary%27s+Book+Store%22>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5na5kc>



Google Books


<http://books.google.com/books?tab=sp&sa=N&hl=en&rls=DAUS,DAUS:
2006-11,DAUS:en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Leary%27s+Book+Store%22&sa=N>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5mjx7m>



-----------------------------------




WEBBIB0809


Perhaps not covered in the sources cited above, payment for purchases at
Leary's were transmitted from the selling floor to a central office in the
store via a pneumatic tube system and the container was returned with any
change due and the customer's receipt.




Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@...
<http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com>
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Nina Dillard's Photographs on Net-Gold
<http://tinyurl.com/36qd2o>
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