Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover: This Is Michigan’s Largest (And Coolest) Bookstore

The building at John K. King Book Used and Rare Books is poetic, given what it sells. For years, librarians told me not to judge a book by its cover, because what's inside could be wonderful. This bookstore is in a former manufacturing plant over 100 years old, and while it looks ordinary on the outside, what's on the inside is anything but: it's home to over a million books, including exceedingly rare titles like a first edition of Frankenstein and others dating back to 1498.

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The entire store is organized chaos, spread across multiple floors and meant for getting lost in. It's truly unique, and a very intentional blast from the past. Here's what makes this bookstore so unique, and why Michigan is lucky to have it.

John King Used & Rare Books

John K. King: Over 1 Million Books and Counting

Located in the former Advance Glove Manufacturing Co. building, this massive bookstore has been open here since 1984. As mentioned, the building holds over one million books, but even more shocking is that it has operated this way since then, meaning the store has no digital catalog of its inventory.  Outside the subject-sorted areas, you're on your own across all four floors.

First Edition Animal Farm from 1945 (left), a witchcraft book from 1677 (center), and a unique edition of Dune. / John King Used & Rare Books via Facebook

It's an approach even libraries abandoned years ago, but that's part of the draw. It could take days just to walk through the entire store, let alone inspect everything like the many quirky signs decorating the shelves. If you're a fan of that "old book smell", this is the place for you.

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But among this collection are some truly standout items, and these are an exception to the digitization rule. The site offers rare books for sale, with some reaching over $20,000 in value. 

The Rare Book Room

The rare book room includes a section of exceptionally rare books kept in a separate building, away from the endless shelves, for a variety of reasons. It could be the edition, its age, its historical relevance, or its status as a collector's favorite. At the time of writing, the Rare Book room contains 36,041 books.

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The two most valuable books in John K. King's collection are the aforementioned First American Edition of Mary W. Shelly's Frankenstein from 1866, and two First Editions of Virgina Woolf's Jacob's Room, one of only 1,200 copies. They're selling for $35,000, $40,000, and $50,000, respectively.

John King Used & Rare Books

When CNN interviewed King back in 2014, he had a First Edition of the Book of Mormon priced at over $100,000, and Thomas Aquinas writings printed in Venice in 1482. Next time you're in Detroit, make this a stop.