Home of Oak Knoll |
Oak Knoll Books was founded in 1976 by Bob Fleck, a chemical
engineer by training, who let his hobby get the best of him.
Somehow making oil refineries more efficient using mathematics
and computers paled in comparison to the joy of handling books.
Oak Knoll Press, the second part of the business, was established
in 1978 as a logical extension of Oak Knoll Books.
Today, Oak Knoll Books is a thriving company that maintains
an inventory of about 20,000 titles. Our main specialties
continue to be books about bibliography, book collecting,
book design, book illustration, book selling, bookbinding,
bookplates, children's books, Delaware books, fine press books,
forgery, graphic arts, libraries, literary criticism, marbling,
papermaking, printing history, publishing, typography &
type specimens, and writing & calligraphy - plus books
about the history of all of these fields.
We are a firm of about 10 people that come from all walks
of life, but are united in our love of books. Kelly Chandler,
who joined Oak Knoll in December of 2005, handles our Antiquarian
Department. Jeanette Sikes, after several years of book cataloguing,
has taken over our customer service department. Shereen Deemer
is our cataloging and graphics specialist.
Oak Knoll Books is a member of the International League of
Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB - about 2000 dealers in 20 countries)
and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA
- about 450 dealers in the US). Their logos appear on all
of our antiquarian catalogues and web pages. These logos mean
that we guarantee accurate descriptions and customer satisfaction.
Our founder, Bob Fleck, has long been a proponent of the ethical
principles embodied by ILAB & the ABAA. He has taken a
leadership role in both organizations and is a past president
of both the ABAA and ILAB.
We are located in the historic colonial town of New Castle
(founded 1651), next to the Delaware River and have an open
shop for visitors (see our virtual tour). The shop is situated
in the Opera House, a building built by the Masons in 1879
with high ceilings and great views of the town and river.
We are located close to Philadelphia and Washington, DC and
near many historic areas and attractive sights including Winterthur,
the Delaware Art Museum, the Brandywine River Art Museum and
Longwood Gardens. If you would like to plan a visit please
see our visiting page.
Book-selling is much more than balance sheets and income
statements. We sell books because we really enjoy it and hope
that fact comes through clearly when you deal with us.
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