Owner of Vancouver’s eclectic MacLeod’s Books marks 50 years of serving bibliophiles

MacLeod’s Books would give a neat freak a heart attack.

Thousands upon thousands of books are crammed into every nook and cranny of its 2,000-square-foot space at 455 West Pender St. in Downtown Vancouver.

Books are crammed into shelves, stacked on the floor and precariously balanced on the counter. Hardcovers, paperbacks, pulps, magazines, maps — if it’s paper, it’s probably in there somewhere.

For a book lover, it’s browsing heaven. In one pile by the counter sits seven colourful 1920s pulp detective novels by British author Edgar Wallace, a hardcover copy of Anne Rice’s supernatural horror novel Lasher and several coffee-table books on antique furniture.

Piles like this may seem totally chaotic, but owner Don Stewart and his staff seem to know where most everything is. Stewart estimates his stock is 100,000 books. This week he was out on a house call, looking at more.