Books in Melbourne

I attended a cytology tutorial in Melbourne last week, at a hotel in Collins St. Keith tipped me off about the Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller just a few clicks up the street. So I dashed over on one lunch break. There were shelves devoted to Australian literature and several of the list of 290 were in stock. Most of those books seemed to be first editions and have been nicely covered

with a description of the book's condition tucked into the front cover. I bought The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Borrower, a first edition from 1958.

I'm now reading Eucalyptus by Murray Bail after finishing People of the Book last night. There was a first edition of Eucalyptus in the rare book shop but at a purchase price of $150, I passed that one over! I like the cover of The Long Prospect and it was a third of the price.


I could have spent hours in Kay Craddock's book shop - it's in one of Melbourne's many beautiful old buildings, The Assembly Hall Building.