A brief history of ABCD Books, by the owner, Barrie Pribyl...

"Storefront January" by Terry La Mar, ©2001, painting of ABCD Books in winter

"Owning ABCD Books is the realization of a lifelong dream of mine. Ever since the seventh grade, I've wanted to own a used and rare bookstore. I could actually envision it.

"When I walked into the store in 1968 - it was then owned by its founder, Lillian Berliawsky - I knew this was the bookstore of my dreams.

"Lillian was a legendary figure in the Camden-Rockland area. While her husband was a Maine native, Lillian was born and bred on the lower East Side of New York and brought her New York sensibilities with her to Maine. (An aside, Lillian's sister-in-law was Louise Nevelson, who grew up here in midcoast Maine.)  

"I became friendly with Lillian - went with her to book fairs, drove her out in the country on buying trips on summer Sunday afternoons. She and I were close friends at her death, and she was happy in the knowledge that I was her probable successor.

"When I took over in 1993, the store was dirty and dusty, dark and dank. With lots of help from M-- G--, the store's manager and other friends, we cleaned it up - got the books up off the floor, painted the ceiling and walls, put in new lights, built new shelves, added a handsome rare book room, laid colorful rugs on the floor - and upgraded the stock.

"Since then business has been healthy. Over the years, we've added additional staff to keep up with the demand as well as to provide a wider range of services. Jennifer Ruddy spends her time tracking down out-of-print books for our customers; Becky Geesey is our e-commerce department; and Virginia Peckham designed our website and troubleshoots on computer problems. In July and August, Anne Nevin, Lisa Scofield, and Ed Shindle allow us to be open seven days a week from 10 am to 9 pm , Monday to Saturday, and noon to 5 pm on Sundays.

"In 2000, Hodgie Burr, our orange-and-white Maine coon cat, joined us, and in late 2005, Marco, a gray Maine coon cat came to us to keep Hodgie company when we are not here. As they sleep and bathe in our shop windows on sunny days, they provide considerable interest and, sometimes, entertainment to those strolling by.

"The high spots in the intervening 13 years include every bookman's dream, "discovering in a farmhouse" a December 1492 edition of the Nuremberg Chronicles; finding and returning $1000 in ten $100 bills tucked into a book; and being singled out, among other notable publications, by the New York Times and most recently in the Men's Journal as a bookstore not to be missed.