Author Archives: kippy

New arrivals! We now have unique Bell’s-related postcards. Images include a reproduction of an original painting by Joan Stiles Bell of Faith and Valeria Bell reading a book (the original hangs over our staircase), a night view of the storefront … Continue reading →

Bell’s Books in downtown Palo Alto celebrates ninety years of fine bookselling in 2025! Bell’s Books will host a ninetieth anniversary party at 536 Emerson Street (the store) on October 18, 2025, from 2 pm to 6 pm. The event … Continue reading →

All week, October 5th through the 11th, is Banned Books Week. Consider reading some titles that were challenged in libraries, schools, and bookstores in the past… many still are! Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass Orwell: 1984 James Joyce: Ulysses Octavia … Continue reading →

Our current window display contains a number of retro tech items, including a variety of types of phones, a UNIX programming book from 1986, a 1982 IBM manual for the Basic computing language, a complete Mac computer from the 1980s, … Continue reading →

One of the gems of Bell’s Rorty collection is Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason. This 1948 edition of Kant’s monumental work on ethics was Richard Rorty’s personal copy, with underlining and marginalia. An invaluable insight into Rorty’s thought on … Continue reading →

Our new Bell’s Books bags have arrived in a number of new patterns. Canvas or cotton. Just in time for the summer!

John Carter’s ABC for Book Collectors is back in stock from Oak Knoll Press. This is the definitive and latest edition of one of the very best resources on book collecting. It includes definitions and examples of some of the … Continue reading →

A call came in the other day regarding a particular translation of a classic Greek tragedy which we had. Unfortunately, the customer was unable to find parking at that particular time, so the transaction was done by phone and handed … Continue reading →