The Book Gallery

Visited the store today and was very impressed. This is not a Barnes and Noble. This is a real book store with many old first editions with some more modern stuff mixed in. The atmosphere is pleasant. There is no Starbucks Coffee shop inside but you can do like a couple that I saw today sitting at a table playing a game of chess.
This was not the business that I intended on visiting when I went to Downtown McKinney but decided to drop in when I came across it. Once inside I knew exactly what I wanted to look for. The owner was sitting at the front of the store reading a book of course. I told him what I was looking for and he lead me right to the section where he would have such books. To my surprise he did have a book in the series that I collect and it was one that I had not yet had in my collection. The book was a 1922 copy of Radio Boys in the Flying Service. The book is in excellent condition with a great inscription on the inside cover. I do not collect mint books and do love to see inscriptions in the copies I purchase.
In the same section as the Radio Boys book I saw a nice selection of Tom Swift books. That may be my next collection and I now know a good place to start that collection.

Was a fan of this place until I brought a large quantity of first edition, inherited books to be purchased by owner of store. For the dozens of books he gave me $ 40, which I asked him to up to $ 60, which he promptly did since he knew I was one of the suckers that are born every minute.
Turns out one three-​volume set of books I sold was worth from $ 80 to $ 200 alone. If I had the luxury of selling on eBay I would’ve but was cleaning out storage and brought best books to this dealer, who seemed like he’d give me a fair deal, but, instead, I was major ripped off.
I do understand he has to make a profit but this was six or seven boxes of «like new» books, many first editions.
Luckily I didn’t include a first-​edition copy of Steinbeck’s «Red Pony» which was selling for $ 70 in his store. Most likely, it would’ve been included in the $ 40 offer.
Do not sell books to him unless you’re just looking for the price of dinner.
*As a book aficionado I will add that the bookstore is well laid out, as are the books, which are of high quality for used books. The areas are creatively populated with various artifacts and other items that draw one’s attention to each section. As a bookseller, the owner has an impressive collection and is helpful and knowledgeable about his inventory.

What a cute independant book store! The owner sits near the entrance at a table with his dog underneath, and is surrounded by cases and tables of classic books, some collectibles! There’s a great history section, and the classic novels were sooo tempting for someone with a long to-​read list already!
Reminds me of some of the independant old bookstores I’ve wandered in England, and that is a very good thing.

The big chain book stores are no competition for this place. He doesn’t sell tired paperbacks or the currently popular pablum. What he does stock are first editions and rare and vintage books. When you walk in, there are two glass cases filled with the most valuable books. I noticed several very old bibles in the case when I visited today. I once saw a first edition Dickens there. David Copperfield, I think. I love to go drool over these items (hyperbolically, of course).
There are some books that do not seem to be first editions but intermixed with them are those with the tag «signed», so I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they also have some extraordinary value. The prices are very reasonable. There were two collections by Winston Churchill that I was particularly interested in. One was «A History of the English-​Speaking Peoples» and the other was «The Second World War». One of the sets was only $ 100, but I can’t remember which one.
One other note, this is another one of the shops downtown with a dog. (An eight-​week old schnauzer). I just love that. I think it is so «home-​y». It’s like you have just walked into this man’s living room.