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Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm Saturday 10am - 2pm

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.

18/08/2026

Good day to you, book fiends. It will be no surprise that we're here to share some more of our recent arrivals with you. Do have a quick glance, if and when it suits!

A reminder that additional information on the following titles and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/4a97cj7j
And now- to the books! There's 'Performances' (Greg Dening), 'The Day Guernica Died', 'Black Politics', 'The Bundled Doonesbury', 'The Joy of Music' (Leonard Bernstein), 'The German People and the Reformation', 'Malcolm X for Beginners', Janet Frame's 'An Angel At My Table', 'The Error of my Ways' (Edward Colless), 'Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames', 'The Art of Voice Acting', 'Schooldays: A Sentence', and more.

Yesterday was a day where my ignorance was underscored- this often happens! But I didn't know of Edward Colless, lecturer and art critic among his many areas of interest; and nor did I know the work of Australian artist Emily Ferretti. There's something about her work that I find very appealing, so I've given her prime position! And now I feel a tiny bit more informed, at least until the next question stumps me. Which sadly won't be long!

Have a lovely day, and read on.

17/08/2026

Happy Monday, book fiends, wherever you may be.
We hope you had a lovely weekend, and are ready for this new week and what it might bring.

We're just bringing you some more books, if that's alright. Look or not look, as you will! No pressure. Just a reminder that more information on these and all our listed titles can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/5n7nm35j

We have Shaun Tan's 'The Arrival', 'Memoirs of an Old Bastard' (Jack Hibberd), 'The Last Medici', 'In the Arts & Crafts Style', 'AFL's Black Stars', 'The Royal Academy Illustrated 1950', 'Stuff & Nonsense', 'Australian Native Orchids in Colour', 'The Falcon & the Snowman', 'A History of West Indies Cricket', 'The Weapons Detective', 'Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age', and ever more.

An intriguing one today is an 1894 edition of 'The Musical Standard', a newspaper for professional and amateur musicians, this edition hardbound and containing all the issues from January to December of that year. A few more chess books have crept in too, and Shaun Tan is always noteworthy!

We hope the week ahead to good to all- take care out there!

14/08/2026

A little update for this Friday, as we contemplate the weekend ahead, remembering of course that we'll be here tomorrow if you should need a book or two. We have plenty- as one man just observed, commenting on the books stacked up around us!

Today's lot includes Barbara Tuchman's 'The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World before the War 1890-1914', 'The Viking World', 'The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema', 'How To Repair Briggs & Stratton Engines', 'The Viking World', 'Creating the Social Venture', 'Persepolis'. Peter Ackroyd's 'Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination', and more, more, more! Further information on these and all our listings is available here: https://tinyurl.com/vh485ynx

Have a lovely weekend, book fiends. Take some time to treat yourself with a quiet corner, a good book, and an hour or three. Oh, yes, please!

13/08/2026

A tad distracted here, but we hope the week has been treating you kindly thus far. We had a glitch in our week yesterday, but we're keeping (reasonably) calm, and carrying on! And here we are with more of our latest arrivals for your viewing pleasure.

Amongst today's lot are 'The Heritage of Victoria' and 'The Heritage of South Australia', 'Culpeper's Colour Herbal', 'Russian Lacquered Miniatures', 'Travels in Arabia Deserta' (2 volumes), Bernard Smith's 'The Death of the Artist as Hero: Essays in History and Culture', 'With the Empress Dowager of China', 'The Life and Music of Gershwin', 'F***y and Adelaide: The lives of the remarkable Kemble sisters', Robert Manne's 'On Borrowed Time', 'The Illustrated History of BMW Motorcycles', and -always- more! Further information on these and all our listed titles can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/4ry98p7r

My top 3 for today? 'With the Empress Dowager of China' is a memoir (first written in 1905) by an American artist who spent 9 months in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace while she painted a portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi. 'Gardens of Eden' is a beautiful publication from Miegunyah Press, but I am drawn to 'F***y and Adelaide', because I do like a bit of theatre history!

Take care out there, book fiends, and enjoy what remains of the day.

12/08/2026

A Wednesday update for you this week, just for a change. A few volumes of the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography' have come in, of which two are featured below.

There are two volumes of Manning Clark's autobiography: 'The Puzzles of Childhood' and 'The Quest for Grace', as well as his 'In Search of Henry Lawson'. Also newly arrived are 'Colourful Tales of Old Gippsland', 'The Boy Adeodatus' (Bernard Smith), 'Historical Dress of the Old West', 'Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult', 'Hilaire Belloc: Edwardian Radical', 'Australian Crocodiles', 'Zulu With Some Guts Behind It; the Making of the Epic Movie', 'Matthew Flinders' Narrative of Tom Thumb's Cruise to Canoe Rivulet', 'The Partnership: The Secret Association of Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen', 'Victorian Splendour: Australian Interior Decoration 1837 - 1901', and ever more. Further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/23u5wajz

Today I am drawn to Manning Clark's books, and also to Matthew Flinders' account of Tom Thumb's Cruise (with a foreword by Ann Flinders Petrie, Matthew Flinders' daughter, and mother of Sir William Flinders Petrie, renowned archaeologist).

Enjoy your day, book fiends!

10/08/2026

We hope your weekend was relaxing, as we contemplate Monday and the week to come. We're hoping for the best for everyone!

On this rather wet and grey day in today, our first book cheers me no end: 'Wildflower Journeys' with its lovely cover. There's also 'Murray Valley Tourist Guide' (of uncertain date, but post decimal currency at least!), 'Dire Strait: A History of Bass Strait' and 'Birds of Bass Strait', 'Period Rooms in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', 'Global Art Cinema', 'Rethinking Music', 'Margaret Michaelis: Love, Loss and Photography', 'Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and his Rivals', 'Old World Archaeology', 'Laurie Short: A Political Life', and more. Further information on these and all our listed titles is here: https://tinyurl.com/4be4pc2b

We've had another bunch of chess books in, so if that's a subject of interest to you, do check them out at the link above. And there's 'Unity, Nationality, Benevolence- The Irish National Foresters Friendly Society in Victoria 1886 - 1986', hot off the press and published locally, which may be of interest to historians out there.

Have a lovely day, wherever you are, and stay warm and dry if you're in our vicinity. Take care out there!

07/08/2026

Friday, and the weekend beckons. We hope you're looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable time. We'll be here tomorrow from 10 till 2 as usual, if you're visiting our city and in need of a little book browsing.

There's been a few people through so far this morning: it did feel a little like spring, with the sunshine and blue skies, though we know it's just a lull!

We've had a plethora of chess books in, and you can check them out at the following link, along with all our other listings:
https://tinyurl.com/49t9uetb Other books today include: Tim Winton's "Island Home', 'The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature', 'The Sherlock Holmes Long Stories', 'Dawn of Art', 'Eagle on the Moon', 'Victorian Squatters', 'Australian Gothic', 'Rembrandt to Renoir', 'Andy Warhol's Art and Films', 'Mosaics', 'Britain Observed', and - you guessed -more, more, more!

'Victorian Squatters' seems a wonderful resource, and I'm sure some of my forebears are in there somewhere! There are a few others I could add to my to-be-read list, and 'Australian Gothic'
appeals, having recently paid homage at Albert Tucker's grave in Brighton cemetery.

Have a lovely weekend, book fiends. Stay warm, and safe, and read on!

06/08/2026

A bunch of books for your Thursday?
Consider it done!

Today we have 'Henry James: A Life', 'Power Chess', 'Jabberwocky and other poems', 'Aboriginal Rock Art in the Blue Mountains', 'The Lady Squatters', 'Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook', 'Man-Made Morals: Four Philosophies that Shaped America', 'Stubbs', 'Cranlana: The First 100 Years. The House, the Garden, the People', 'Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures', 'The Immigrants', and ever more. The link to further information on these and all our listed titles is here: https://tinyurl.com/2cu8huvu

We finish this as a steady flow of book-seekers find their way down our stairs, so we'll cease our waffling for now. (For this relief, much thanks?)

We hope your Thursday treats you well!

04/08/2026

Another Tuesday has swung around, and we hope you're all doing well, book fiends.

We added a bunch of books to our listings yesterday, so here are just a few of them for you to check out when you can. There's 'My People: A Kath Walker Collection', 'Golden Summers: Heidelberg and Beyond', 'The People of Gariwerd', a few little craft books including 'Knitted Flowers' and 'Knitted Vegetables', 'The Question of Free Will', 'Yarra: A Natural Treasure', 'The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh', 'A Voyage to the South Seas...' (an account by William Bligh), 'Flowers and Fables: A Survey of Chelsea Porcelain 1745-69', 'John Bulmer's Recollections of Victorian Aboriginal Life 1855 - 1908', and more. This link takes you to additional information on all our listed titles, including the ones shown below: https://tinyurl.com/3mvadtax

Reading the letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh would be a very diverting few hours, don't you think? And there's Bligh's own account of his South Seas voyage and the Bounty mutiny, diverting in a different way perhaps. But the wonder of being able to access someone's voice from long ago never ceases to amaze, when you stop and think about it.

Enough ruminating: onwards!

03/08/2026

A quick Monday drive-by, with some more recent arrivals for your consideration, after that unseasonal but lovely weekend we just had here in . (We hope you got to enjoy some of it!)

Today we bring you Charles Mountford's 'The Dreamtime', 'Foreign Devils on the Silk Road', 'The British Commonwealth of Nations in a Changing World' (Zelman Cowan), 'Research Methods in History', 'National Fictions: Literature, film and the construction of Australian narrative', 'A Mabo Memoir: Islan Kustom to Native Title', 'The Oxford History of the Classical World', 'The Melbourne Club. A Social History: 1838-1918', and always - more. Further information on these and all our listings can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/vtd9zytf

Have a grand Monday, book fiends. And may the week ahead be kind to all.

Address

342 Flinders Street
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 2pm

Telephone

+61396200428

Website

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

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