Left Bank Books

Profile

The devoted fans of this small bookseller will tell you that back when West 4th Street was called Asylum Street, it was home to the largest orphanage in North America. That legacy alone might explain why the 10,000 books crammed into residence here seem to be crawling up the walls, but owner Kim Herzinger purposely cultivated a space where someone could enjoy being lost and find the stories of a likewise truant mind. The bulk of the store is general fiction of the modern era limited to important titles or remarkable editions; next to a dog-eared copy of War and Peace, you might find an early copy of Borges’s Ficciones in good enough shape to have recouped its original cover price. Approximately 1,500 of the volumes bear the author’s signature, including some plays and art and design books. But the store's specialty is first editions, and for sums ranging from 25 bucks to several thousand dollars, you can take home a Faulkner, Woolfe, Joyce, or Márquez. — Ben Perkins