The sktches in this post were completed at home from photographs that I took at Melbourne Rare Book Fair.

Kay Craddock Antiquarian Books

A family business established in 1965, Kay Craddock – Antiquarian Bookseller has become a Collins Street landmark in the impressive Neo-Gothic Assembly Hall building located in the heart of Melbourne’s premier street, We buy and sell fine and rare books from the 15th to the 21st centuries.As a general bookseller we offer a large and diverse range of stock. Specialist catalogues and electronic lists are issued regularly. All stock is listed on our website, which is updated daily.

A permanent collection of owls is scattered throughout the bookshop. The first of these, two small wax candles in the shape of an owl, were made for Kay by her nieces, Marilla and Kylie, in the 1970s. Since then, their number is now in the thousands, mostly given by customers and friends. The bookshop has a policy that it neither buys nor sells the owls-nor does it ask for them! There are many stories attached to the way in which they have been given to the business, and the collection has become a draw-card for visitors to the bookshop.