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Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm

City Basement Books

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Melbourne, VIC
City Basement Books

Ours is a general secondhand bookshop situated near Flinders Street Station in the city of Melbourne.

05/05/2026

We're seizing some time for a little update and a few more of our recent arrivals. We still have much of Tuesday to go, so perhaps this is the day we'll get ahead- even a little bit!?

A reminder that additional information on the following titles and all our listings is available here: https://tinyurl.com/3cbbhv25

And now: to the books! There's 'Triumph at Wattle Flat: When Castlemaine beat the Poms', 'False Claims of Colonial Thieves', 'A Portrait of Leni Riefenstahl', 'Jackie Chan', 'To Ayers Rock and Beyond' (Bill Harney), 'English Shrines and Sanctuaries', 'The Sacred Balance' and 'Earth Time' by David Suzuki, 'Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age', 'The First Five Lives of Annie Besant', 'Burn: The Epic Story of Bushfire in Australia', and - of course- more...

We've just been reminiscing delightfully about an old and valued customer who died late last year. Sometimes a book comes in which will remind us of a particular person and their interests, and we'll think of them and wonder where they are now. Sometimes we never find out, but they're a happy memory still.

Enjoy your day, book fiends. Read on!

04/05/2026

Another Monday rolls around, and we're glad to be here to share some more of our latest arrivals with you. We hope you had a good weekend and managed to relax a little along the way.

The link to information on all our listed titles is here:
https://tinyurl.com/mt6vp8k6 Please do check it out if any of the following books appeal.

Today's lot includes: 'Chance Encounters' (A.D. Hope), 'Tolstoy', 'The World of Edward Gorey', 'The Story of the Mary Celeste', 'The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle', 'Walks of the Shipwreck Coast & Volcano Country', 'The Heart of England', 'Descartes: Philosophical Writings', 'The Wider Sea: A Life of John Ruskin', 'Comrades! Portraits from the Spanish Civil War', 'God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain', 'Blue Gum Clippers and Whale Ships of Tasmania', Jared Diamond's 'Collapse', and as ever, more!

We'll get on with the dance and the day. Like the white rabbit, we already feel we're running just a bit behind! Happy Monday, book fiends!

01/05/2026

Friday on our minds... though we will of course be here tomorrow from 10 till 2, if you're visiting our city and fancy a little book-browsing.

Today we bring you some natural history, a few art books, some English architecture books from B.T. Batsford, and more. Today's titles include: 'Robert Jacks: Past Unfolded', 'Last Chance to See...' (Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine), 'Art Nouveau', 'Rare Birds of the World', 'Henry Yevele c. 1320 to 1400. The Life of an English Architect', 'Sir Francis Drake's Raid on the Treasure Trains', 'The Struggle for Greece' (Herodotus), 'Endangered Species Recovery', 'Outline of English Architecture', 'Care of Australian Wildlife', and on we go.... Further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/3h7ptkcx

My own favourite today is 'Henry Yevele: The Life of an English Architect', with Drake's raids to the West Indies in 1572 a close second.

Have a wonderful weekend, book fiends. May there be rest, relaxation, and reading in abundance!

30/04/2026

How are you today, book fiends? If you don't mind me sharing a personal note, I'm still a bit frazzled from my journey into the bookshop this morning, where the sheer volume of noise made me wish for the silent carriage option... I know that's a grumpy and unreasonable reaction, so I'm trying to reset!

Well now, what to say about today's lot of books? We have 'Snakes in Fact and Fiction', 'The Observer's Book of Old English Churches', 'Gustav Moreau & The Eternal Feminine', 'Echunga 1839-1939', 'Vanished Kingdoms' (Norman Davies), 'Cup Fever: Rennie Ellis at the Melbourne Cup', 'The English Mediaeval House', 'Hess; the Missing Years', 'Shooting Facts and Fancies', 'Against Capitalism', and a little bunch of books by or about H. Rider Haggard including 'Rudyard Kipling to Rider Haggard: The Record of a Friendship' and 'Rider Haggard and the Lost Empire: A Biography', and - there's always more. Additional information on these and all our listings is available here: https://tinyurl.com/2j9a2ry5

I'm off to find some equilibrium somewhere- we hope the rest of your Thursday is lovely!

28/04/2026

Another bunch of books for you from our recent arrivals. Today we're diving into pools of natural history, politics, and some more for the Anglophiles among you, as well as a few other distractions.

There's 'From the Top of the Hill : Finding Private Jack Peoples, 58th Battalion, No 4288', 'The Persians Amongst the English', 'Chimpanzee Politics', The Mystery of Georges Simenon : A Biography', 'Our Man Elsewhere: In Search of Alan Moorehead', 'Wates's Book of London Churchyards', 'The Perpendicular Style', 'The American Bison', 'Planning for Sustainable Farming', 'The Fellow-Travellers:: Intellectual Friends of Communism', and ever more. Further information on these titles and all our listed items can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/mr229j5x

I can never go past Alan Moorehead, whose 'The Fatal Impact' had a profound effect on me when I first read it. And books on the cemeteries of London I find fascinating too. (Ditto for cemeteries and a good wander around them!)

Hope you're having a lovely day where you are. Keep calm and read on...

27/04/2026

Ah, the promise of a new week. We hope it holds good things for us all. And we hope you had a lovely weekend, and got to relax even a little bit.

Today's books include: 'The Oxford Classical Dictionary'; three titles from Antony Beevor: 'Berlin', 'Stalingrad' and 'D-Day'; 'The Coinage of Roman Britain'; 'The Free Peasantry of the Northern Danelaw'; 'Mad World : Evelyn Waugh and the secrets of Brideshead'; 'Melbourne International Arts Festival 1986-2005: The First 20 Years'; 'Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail' (Hunter S. Thompson); 'Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts : A Guide to Technical Terms'; 'The Zoo Story'; and ever more. Further information on these and all our listed titles can be found here:
https://tinyurl.com/mvhnfua9

Short and sweet for this Monday- the books and boxes beckon us forward ... look after yourselves, book fiends. And read on!

24/04/2026

A Friday hurrah from us, and some more from our latest arrivals for your virtual browsing. The natural history books keep on coming, and there's a few titles for any Anglophiles among you.

* * *
Before we get to today's books, though, we wanted to acknowledge the death of David Malouf. Australia has lost a great writer, but we have his works to celebrate and remember him by. And there are we thankful. Vale David.
* * *

We hope you have a relaxing and wonderful weekend, whatever you have planned, and perhaps there'll be some time for a little reading if you're lucky?!

Today's lot includes: Tim Winton's 'Eyrie', 'A Little History of the English Country Church', 'The Encyclopaedia of Reptiles and Amphibians', 'Rattlesnakes', 'Medieval Bath Uncovered', Les Carlyon's 'Gallipoli', 'Time's Anvil: England, Archaeology and the Imagination', 'Translocation of Wild Animals', 'Cambridge Stone' (and 'Oxford Stone' too), and more besides. Further information on these and all our listings can be found here:
https://tinyurl.com/2cmjn2kf

Do remember that you can use the link above to search our listed titles using keywords ('local history', 'politics', Philosophy, military,....), or authors, or specific titles. We don't have all our books listed - that's the Sisyphean task of our days, but there are around 18,300 there at the moment. (I just checked!)

Enjoy your weekend, book fiends!

23/04/2026

Happy International Book Day!
If you're in , we hope you're enjoying this burst of fine weather, and we trust wherever you are that your day is a good one. And now to the books!

We have 'Charles Conder: Last of the Bohemians', 'The Henty Journals', 'Discovering the Mount Alexander Diggings', 'Bert & Ned: The correspondence of Albert Tucker and Sidney Nolan', 'Poems' (Kenneth Slessor), 'Mad Dan Morgan, Bushranger', Tim Winton's 'Island Home' and 'Land's Edge', 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' (T.E. Lawrence), 'Rolf Boldrewood: A Life', 'Ola Cohn's Fairies Tree', 'Caring for Australian Wildlife', and ever more.

As always, further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/mryx59w4 Our books are secondhand, so it's always a good idea to check out more on their condition, etc. if a title is of interest.

The book that held my imagination yesterday was 'Ornament of Honour', a poem addressed to T.E. Lawrence written in Aleppo shortly after Lawrence's death by a close friend, Ernest H.R. Altounyan. Dr Altounyan was also a friend of Arthur Ransome's, and the Altounyan children became the inspiration for the children of 'Swallows and Amazons'. These connections intrigue and fascinate me, I confess, and I feel I've learnt something new!

Have a wonderful day!

21/04/2026

Happy Tuesday, book fiends. The autumn sun is shining on the streets above, and we have another bunch of books for you. Natural history titles predominate today, with a few other subjects creeping in around and about.

The following lot includes: 'Power. Essential Works of Foucault 1954-1984', 'Phantastica: A Classic Survey on the Use and Abuse of Mind-Altering Plants', 'Ancient Australia', 'The Armchair Angler', 'Bird Conservation on Golf Courses', 'The World of Goya', 'Honey Flora of Victoria', 'Yew Hall' (Lucy M Boston), 'The S*x Life of Plants', and more besides. Further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2n4ktkse

I have no other words today, so I should stop typing, and get stuck into one of the many boxes awaiting investigation! Have a wonderful day, friends.

20/04/2026

Monday and a brave new week is before us. The readiness is all! We hope it treats you very well, book fiends.

A reminder that further information on all the titles featured bellow can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/ydhbss4n

And now for the books! 'Buckley's Hope', 'You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians who won the vote and inspired the world', 'Life Class' (Brenda Niall), 'The Edwardians', 'The Vetting of Wisdom: Joan Montgomery and the fight for PLC', 'Melbourne's Radical Bookshops', 'Beyond the Two Party System', 'The Dominie Books of A.S. Neill', 'Walter Benjamin and the Demands of History', 'The Case of the Midwife Toad' (Koestler), 'Tortoises, Terrapins and Turtles', and as always- more.

My own picks for today are 'Cultural Amnesia' by the wonderful Clive James, Brenda Niall's 'Life Class', and Clare Wright's 'You Daughters of Freedom'. Enjoy your virtual browse!

17/04/2026

A Friday hurrah, with some more of our books for you to check out as and when you wish. We hope you're looking forward to the weekend, whatever you have planned. And if you're heading into our city tomorrow, remember we're open from 10 till 2 as usual if you need a little book browse.

Today's lot includes 3 titles from L.M. Boston: 'The Guardians of the House', 'The Stones of Green Knowe', and 'Memory in a House'. There's also 'The Borrowers Aloft' and 'The Borrowers Avenged', and 'Milly-Molly-Mandy Again'. And Michael Cannon's 'Cannon Fire: A Life in Print', 'The Vision of Piers Plowman', 'Can You Hear the Sea?' (Brenda Niall), 'Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Vol. VI (New Series)' (1894), several works by Lewis Mumford, Georgette Heyer's elusive 'The Great Roxhythe', and more. Further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/42awb8nj

Wishing you a relaxed and happy weekend, a cosy corner and the time to get lost in a good book. Look after yourselves, book fiends all!

16/04/2026

Feels a bit like Struggletown today, but trying to turn things around by sharing this great bunch of books on this warm day. Information on them and on all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2fhmnept

Titles today include: 'Tiwi : The Life and Art of Australia's Tiwi People', 'The Blind Watchmaker', 'An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963', 'Noel Counihan : Artist and Revolutionary', 'Mrs. Fraser on the Fatal Shore', 'Cottee's : A Family Favourite', 'John Cain's Years', 'The Riddle of Father Hackett', 'A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit 1858-1924', 'Journey Without Arrival: The Life and Writing of Vincent Buckley', and ever more.

We hope you have a good day wherever you are in our wide world. Read on, book fiends!

Address

342 Flinders Street
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+61396200428

Website

https://www.abebooks.com/city-basement-books-melbourne/695917/sf

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