Oak Knoll Books

Who are we? Oak Knoll Books was founded by Robert D. Fleck in 1976 to fill a void in the booksellers world. At the time, there were virtually no antiquarian booksellers who specialized in both out-of-print and in-print books about books, book trade history and the book arts. Today, Oak Knoll Books is a thriving company that maintains an inventory of about 20,000 titles and a rapidly growing backlist of over 950 titles published and distributed under its imprint, Oak Knoll Press, which currently publishes 30-40 new titles a year. We co-publish with The British Library, The Delaware Museum, HES and St. Paul's Bibliographies. We also exclusively distribute books in the field for other publishers and organizations such as the American Antiquarian Society, Bibliographical Society (London), Bibliographical Society of America, Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, Catalpa Press, The Grolier Club, The John Carter Brown Library, and St. Paul's Bibliographies. Our main specialties include books about book collecting, bookselling, bibliography, libraries, publishing, private press printing, fine printing, bookbinding, book design, book illustration, calligraphy, graphic arts, marbling, papermaking, printing, typography and type specimens plus books about the history of these fields. You can reach us via phone, fax, email or regular mail. Our business hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. but you may leave a message with our answering machine outside of business hours. We are located in the historic colonial town of New Castle, next to the Delaware River and have an open shop for visitors. We are located close to Philadelphia and Washington, DC and are situated near many historic areas and attractive sights including Winterthur and Longwood Gardens. Please contact us if you would like to plan a visit. What do we do? Our publishing division produces titles for booklovers and those interested in the history of the book and book arts. Successful titles include The Great Libraries: From Antiquity to the Renaissance by Konstantinos Sp. Staikos, ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter, The Art & History of Books by Norma Levarie, Encyclopedia of the Book by Geoffrey Ashall Glaister, Five Hundred Years of Printing by S.H. Steinberg and American Book Design and William Morris by Susan Otis Thompson.. One of our many purposes is to increase awareness and appreciation for the history, art and form of the book as well as to foster the activities of book collecting and bookselling. We encourage those interested in these fields to approach us when they need information, sources and contacts in the books about books field. We serve the newcomer to the book world as well as professionals and the more experienced. We issue twelve antiquarian catalogues in addition to four in-print minilists and two publishing catalogues per year. Our company serves individuals, libraries, bookstores and book dealers and other institutions worldwide. Our customers include private collectors, students and scholars in book trade, book arts and book history, type designers and typographers, printers, graphic artists, librarians, booksellers, bookbinders, papermakers, marblers, professors, book designers, calligraphers and those interested in miniature books and books about book illustration, children's books, censorship and forgery in addition to other subjects related to the field. We constantly strive to reach people in these fields by hosting special events such as private press fairs, author signings and special exhibitions. One of our current projects include a web site for those looking for information and resources relating to the book history and book arts community. Oak Knoll is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and thus affiliated with the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. These organizations stand for professionalism in the world of books so look for these logos when buying books.