Capitol Hill Books

Capitol Hill Books
657 C St. SE, Washington, DC 20003
Website

I don't anticipate doing bunches of store reviews - after all, you can find more stores than I can visit, and more opinions about them, on Yelp - but occasionally I take a particular fancy to a certain store and I want to share it with you.  I did this once before, which insightful readers will probably remember, but this particular entry is dear to my heart, because I love used book stores.

Back in Hyde Park there was one in particular which had carts of $1 books out on the sidewalk during operating hours, and I acquired several excellent books there, including a gorgeous edition of Death in Venice (Thomas Mann, translated), a beautifully illustrated Tristan and Isolde, and a weighty copy of Bocaccio's Decamerone.  J always wants his books new, but I like mine used (unless they're textbooks), because old books have this delightful smell of must and dry paper; they feel like long-hidden treasures when you open them up.  New books just feel like commodities.

Anyhow, as you probably have guessed, I have found a used bookstore.  It's in the Capitol South neighborhood (yesterday's post), and it's insane.

You see, I wasn't kidding.  Capitol Hill Books occupies a row house across the street from Eastern Market, and it is crammed floor-to-ceiling with books.  And these books are in quite good condition - unlike some used book stores which sell anything which at one point resembled a book, regardless of its current state.  And they come in incredible variety: 

...fiction books in the fiction room...mystery books in the Mystery Room, foreign language books in the bathroom, cookbooks in the kitchen on the kitchen sink, business books with the lawyers in the Business Closet, cultural biographies in the Cultural Closet, and a Weird Section for those who like witches, dreams, and things that go bump in the night.  We also have books on history, philosophy, travel, Washington DC, theology, psychology, politics (of course), games, art and more.  

This quote doesn't really do it justice.  To the right is the aforementioned kitchen (the 1950s refrigerator is still there, though I doubt it's running - it's covered with books).  The poetry section, as you can see, takes up the old kitchen cabinets, and possess its own ordering system: Emily Dickinson on top, T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden sharing a nook next to Whitman and Wordsworth, who share a nook as well.  This is standard operating procedure throughout the shop, and in the fiction section, where everything is organized alphabetically by author's last name, from time to time you'll see notes indicating that such and such author isn't here in his/her proper alphabetical position, but rather in that cubby-hole across the way (Hemingway), or downstairs in the religion section instead (Chesterton).  Notes and arrows will guide you throughout the store - just be on the lookout.  And you mustn't forget that every bit of space is used, so you might have to look somewhere unconventional for something.  Science fiction, for example, is in the basement, where the ceiling is so low that you have to stoop if you're any taller than I am (and I stooped anyway, because I'm a bit paranoid about low ceilings).  Even the stairway between the first and second floors is crammed with books:

It's definitely a one-lane road going up and down this staircase.  Interestingly, there are enough people here on a given day to cause traffic jams.  Many used book stores I've encountered have always been empty whenever I step in - on weekends, Capitol Hill Books often has a dozen people creeping between its tottering shelves, looking for mysteries, history, fiction, sci-fi, religion, philosophy, politics, and all other sorts of books. This is probably helped by its advantageous location, across the street from the market, but it's also gotten press in one of the DC-oriented blogs (DCist) I read (that's actually how I found out about the place).  I can't help but wonder if the owner makes a profit at all, but since the books are in good condition and go for more than disposal prices ($7 is the cheapest I've seen), there must be enough money coming in to justify keeping the joint open.  What I like, of course, is the thrill of the hunt, and the occasional jewels I uncover while searching.  In a crazy, cluttered bookstore like this one, there are certainly many to find, which is why I keep coming back.  I'm told there are other good used book stores in the city, but even if (when) I find them, I've no doubt that I'll keep coming back to Capitol Hill Books.