About Us
The Old Algonquin Bookstore opened for business in east Denver June 1, 1984. It was owned by John and Helen Dunning who had come from opposite ends of the country in the mid 1960s. John was a struggling writer, and in 1974 his first novel, The Holland Suggestions, was published by Bobbs-Merrill.
The store dealt in books ranging from the cheap and recently out-of-print to unusual and scarce items. It joined another bookstore that had been in the block for several years, and soon a third, then a fourth, opened for business. For a time that block between 5900 and 6000 East Colfax Avenue was a lively book community.
The publication of John's fifth novel, Booked to Die, demanded a new commitment to writing, and the store closed in June 1994. But John and Helen are still addicted to the trade and have continued doing business on the internet as Old Algonquin Books since 1995. The stock reflects the same tastes and interests they had as open-shop dealers--there is still a great variety of books, many cheap and recently out-of-print, some still in print, some scarce and long out-of-print, a few somewhat pricey, but most, they hope, having the main characteristics they looked for in the store: is it interesting, is it useful, is it in very good or better condition? The books are mostly first editions, and unless noted otherwise, this also means first printing. All dust jackets are covered by archival clear book jacket covers
Member of the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc. RMABA. Past member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, www.abaa.org; also see www.ilab-lila.com for booksellers around the world who are members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.
