Collector’s Treasury: huge second hand bookstore.
With thanks to Adi@fiftytwo.co.za yet again. Collector’s Treasury is one of my FAVOURITE places BUT be warned … take a ball of string with you because like Theseus in the minotaur’s cave, you might get lost in the maze of book-lined passages !!
- Genre: Book store bizarre
- What: Paperbacks, hard copies, leather bounds and titles from 1800s – this mystically rare book dealer has the edge. Doors swung open in 1974 and over its 36 years the collection has matured – there’s an accumulated mass of literary wealth and some 2 million books are shelved here. Astounding. The Collectors Treasury doesn’t just horde books, it carriers collectable vinyls (The Beatles, The Jackson Five), sheet music, mathematical journals, framed artworks, porcelain everything, medium format cameras and family photo albums probably from a different chapter. Spilling over four floors – there’s a rich world waiting for you.
- FiftyTwo review: Books are stacked in piles everywhere (up staircases, blocking the entrance, above and below book shelves). Collectors Treasury is the most phenomenal maze to loose yourself in. Scan the shelves for titles, you’ll find volumes and volumes to read from cover to cover. Words can’t capture the wonder that this aged bookstore conjures up. Meet fascinating people while you browse, from the academic scholar wishing he were in Boston to muso hippie types, everyone speaks the same language in a space such as this – a great opportunity to not judge a book by its cover. This gallery isn’t cheap but the experience is worth the buck. Whoever thought atlases from the Ice Age would lose value, you’re wrong. FiftyTwo say, “Stay the day.”
- Tip: First edition books make quite the gift so the next time you’re looking for something unique and feel mainstream bookstores offer the unadventurous, head to Collectors Treasury. Secondly, look intently as there are remarkable things on sale, very recently an original South African Parliamentary photograph from 1936 (with signatures of all parliament members) was found. Own your page of South African history.
- Interesting fact: This legend store has claims of being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest bookstore of its kind.
- Where: CTP House, 244 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg – call 011 334 6556 if you need help with directions.
- Book: No booking necessary – it’s open from Mondays to Fridays 09:00-17:00 & Saturdays 10:00-13:00
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