Argonaut Book Shop

786 Sutter St, San Francisco, California 94109 USA

10 Reviews

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Reasonable

Closed Now

Opens Mon 3:30p

Independent
Credit Cards
Accepted

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“western & americana books”

The Argonaut Book Shop specializes in the history of California and the West. An Argonaut was the name given during the California gold rush to pioneer adventurers sailing around the Horn to California in their quest for gold.The name was also given to pioneers traveling overland in their "Prairie Schooners" to the California gold fields. Prairie schooner was the name applied to a covered wagon used to cross the plains because from a distance it looked rather like a ship at sea.The hardships of the pioneers traveling to California by land or sea in their quest for gold were thus popularly related to those of the mythological heroes who recovered the Golden Fleece.

Reviewed by
Courtney Y.

June 06, 2012

In search of an obscure book about my ancestors who were immigrants to San Francisco in the 1800's from the Pearl River Delta, my online research sent me to the Argonaut Book Shop. I've heard of... Read more

Reviewed by
Vanessa B.

January 25, 2020

My son and I stopped in here on our trip and came across this bookstore on our way to breakfast. On our way back we stopped it and I'm so glad we did! My son got to see a pristine copy of The Wind... Read more

Reviewed by
A.J. F.

March 06, 2021

A gem of a store. Good antiquarian bookstores need two things: a specialty topic area in addition to an overall good selection, and (IMO) an owner who enthusiastically engages their customers. In... Read more

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