3613 Broadway, San Antonio, TX
My time was running out during my last trip to San Antonio, but I managed to sneak in a quick visit to this second-hand and vintage bookshop on Broadway south of the UIW campus and the Witte Museum. Cheever Books recently went through a renovation and reorganization, so if you went in the past, it might be a different ball game for you now. And if you’re looking for fine and rare books about local or regional historical topics, this is absolutely the place for you, Texans!
The shop has parking in the front and read (you can’t miss the blue sign out front) and is situated in an old house, as evidenced by the various rooms serving as nonfiction subsections or the hub for their fiction, children’s, etc. I had a nice talk with the manager at her large desk to the right after walking in, and those first few rooms are packed with glass cases and wall-to-wall shelves full of vintage titles and rarities, with plenty of books on war and the military, local history, Texas history (or as the signs indicated, “Texana”), Mexican cultures and political texts, western- and cowboy-related titles, Native American history, world and European history, biographies, art, astronomy, and more.
Moving deeper into the shops, I found a room full of plays and drama titles (Homer, Shakespeare, Ibsen, etc., leatherbound classics (Mark Twain, Ring Lardner, Henry Adams, etc.), all manner of hardcover and paperback literature and mass media fiction, and so on. The diversity was wide, and there’s plenty to look through in here, but she shop does lean a bit more toward nonfiction.
Which leads us to other areas of the shop, which include sections on true crime, mythology, science, gardening, birds, cookbooks, music, and so on. There was a nice sized children’s section in the rear too, and a couple families were browsing, with one father/daughter reading aloud together. It was a nice atmosphere balanced between bustling and quiet.
This shop is not far from Nowhere Books, a great shop for new titles, and I suggest if you visit the one, go ahead and come down to Cheever as well to scour for those older titles for classics you may have missed or cannot find in newer shops. This mix of new and old can make for a fantastic one-two bookshop browsing punch.
Atmosphere — Restructured and reorganized into an older home, one can wander room to room in search of second-hand wonders, some brightly lit, some cozy and closed off from the outer world.
Quality — The books are older and range from warmly used to pristine and sealed, but all are in good shape, no duds in the bunch from what I could see.
Quantity — There were plenty of books here, and I could have spent twice as much time if time wasn’t tight.
Diversity — This shop hits most of the usual categories, with plenty of titles that focus on Texana, Mexican and western cultures and history, local fare, war and military, and the like.
Affordability — The books were all very fairly priced with an obvious increase for rarities and sealed/protected vintage titles.
Amenities — There are some stools and seats but you’re mostly there to browse. There are plenty of restaurants nearby.
Location — On Broadway close to the Witte Museum.
Customer Service — The manager near the front was very friendly and informative. Ask her for advice on any topic and I’m sure she’ll help!
Overall — This shop is loaded with vintage items with a special focus on books on Texas, San Antonio, and the southwest. But there enough here for anyone for an excellent second-hand browsing session. Stop in whenever you can!
