Leather-bound Love

Wrap your special someone in aged leather this Valentine’s Day

As the iPad puts yet another nail in the coffin of print publishing, paper books are starting to look like collectors items. Which is why we called up the experts at Charles Parkhurst Rare Books to find out the latest word in vintage volumes. Located in a light, airy space in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale, CPRB is nothing like your usual musty, claustrophobic vintage book shop. Simply stepping inside this handsome space makes you want to shout from the mountaintops, “I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany!”

So what’s awaiting at Charles Parkhurst? Well, there’s the usual collection of ornate, engraved volumes dating back centuries—$20,000 “Summa Theologica” from 1480, anyone? However non-Latin speakers will also love more modern masterpieces such as a first edition John Steinbeck purchased from his sister’s library and personally signed to her by the author. Even cooler, Charles Parkhurst stocks a collection of first edition children’s classics such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter,” “Eloise in Paris” and the works of Dr. Seuss.