Welcome to Bison Books!
Serendipity awaits you in our friendly shop, where we offer an eclectic, fresh collection of around 20,000 meticulously-curated antiquarian and good used books.
We have a long-established reputation of easygoing professionalism and maintain a refined selection of everything from first editions, fine bindings and antiquarian books, to Indigenous studies, literature, art, and classics, with new acquisitions daily.
We are located in the heart of downtown, in a bright space with lofty ceilings and towering windows which look out onto one of Winnipeg’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares.
We are always purchasing good books. We seek out and pay a premium for, valuable books, including rare books, fine bindings, illustrated books, first editions, signed books, and more. We also offer book searches, acquisitions development consultations, appraisals, movie rentals, and mail orders.
Subsection of a collection just acquired: Arkham House, Lovecraft and others, in lovely condition! 😱#hplovecraft #lovecraft #arkhamhouse #horrorbooks #cthulhu #vintagebooks
A different iteration of #bookstacks today … because as you can see we are awash in them and perhaps a little bit rife and glutted as well. Come see. 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚 #bookstacks #bookshopping
We are feeling all warm and fuzzy after receiving this thoughtful and awesome little gift in the mail from @kitcardswpg! 🙏❤️🦬 Honourable mention to my kid for his assembly assistance! #bison #booksellerlife
Fun fact: the word “book-store” first came into use of in early 19th century USA!
This is Pickering’s “A Vocabulary”, Boston, 1816. Leatherbound and lovely. #dictionary #linguistics #english #reference #antiquarianbooks #antiquarian #oldbooks #words #etymology
Thrilled skeleton and friends, to accompany advice on the use of lungs! #medical #antiquarianbooks #illustratedbook #skeleton #illustrations #consumption #history
Kerouac! Limited edition of 1,000 copies, printed in 1983.
#kerouac #ephemera #limitededition #collecting
Such a cool exhibition! #beyondvangogh
Today, I handled four different editions of Mackenzie’s Voyages, all of which I purchased from the same collection! Comparing and contrasting, researching and cataloguing them all, is an invaluable learning experience.
My favourite? The 1801 first edition, which has lavish fold out maps, gorgeous thick paper, wide margins, and a gorgeous binding. I am sending that one off for a little restoration (we must do our part for posterity!), but the others are available for sale!
#canadiana #voyages #travel #exploration #maps #antiquarianbooks #canadianhistory
Today I am up to my ears in questionable crimes! #antiquarianbooks #pirates #witchcraft #murder #scotland #oldbooks #legalhistory
Dogs, ready! 🐾
This just in: The Daily Newspaper of the South East Asia Command, April to December 1944, bound in three (somewhat gawkish) volumes and chock-full of fascinating content! Scarce. #military #seac #newspaper #wwii #southeastasia #militaryhistory #newsletter
#bookstacks !!! This is a small selection of the books we have purchased so far this week! 📚📚📚 DM to hold or inquire. Please note: holds are only for a couple of days. Curb side pick up is still available, so hit us up if you are hiding out with the dread disease. Shop hours are 10 to 4, Monday through Saturday. Hope to see you soon! ☺️#bookstore #booksbooksbooks #winnipeg #finditdowntown #winnipeg
There’s nothing I don’t love about this little Quixote set! This sweet little leatherbound set was published in New York in 1815, gifted to Charles Lawrence from his father in 1856, and later from an executive at the U of M to the man whose widow sold them to me. Translated by Smollet, with marbled endpapers, lovely bookplates, utterly charming frontispieces, and vignette titles. 200 years later, the set remains intact, and in unusually good condition. What a string of luck. 🍀 Who will provide it with it’s next good home?
#quixote #leatherbound #antiquarianbooks #oldbooks #classics
Nude books! 👀 These exhibitionists unabashedly stand amongst their brethren, jacketless!
Seriously though: please, don’t throw out dust jackets. Some of these books would be worth more than double their current value if they retained their jackets! Dust jackets are not only valuable and visually appealing, they sometimes have little hints which help determine whether a book is a first edition, and protect the book from damage and dust, so they last longer.
If your design aesthetic is better suited to books without their jackets, just tuck them away for now. Do it for posterity, and because you love them! ❤️📚
#bookconservation #lovebooks #dustjackets #coverart #oldbooks #classicbooks
#bookstacks Friday! DM to hold or pop in! Scroll all the way ➡️ for the cutest marmosets. ❤️
#bookstacklove #bookstagram #foliosociety #classics #literature #booksbooksbooks
Ephemera influx! These gems of race relations and Judaica are fresh from the estate of a storied local journalist/writer, and looking for good homes! #racism #racerelations #judaica #jewishhistory #holocaust #ephemera #oldbooks
I’ve heard of stranger things than snacking on paper.
Back in the ‘90s, when I was working for another bookseller, they bought a collection of a few hundred history books… and we had to clean the gutters of every book with a paintbrush, because the previous owner would pluck hairs to use as bookmarks. 🤢 Were it me, I’m not sure I would’ve purchased that particular collection!🙅♀️ I am very particular about cleanliness and condition, which some sellers find irritating, but the clientele appreciates the effort!
#picky #booksellerlife #goodbooks #tagore
Kate Bremner’s autograph book, c1897. Kate had some talented friends! This little book is stuffed with paintings and drawings, quotes and poems, photos and family trees, which put the average autograph book to shame! #autographbook #manuscript #paintings #drawings #album #antiquebook #1898
Here is some Plath for your holiday Monday.
We are closed today, cooking for family and watching out for thumbs. 🔪🔪🔪#sylviaplath #poem #holidays
Does anyone out there like classic cookbooks? Asking for a friend. #cookbooks #bookstacks #classicbooks #shelfie #library #bookstores #goodbooks #goodeats #cooking
