Cather & Brown Books

Cather & Brown Books (originally Ex Libris) was a used and antique book shop owned by Patrick Cather and Bo Brown. The shop first opened on June 2, 1979 in The Garages at 2304 10th Terrace South. In the early 1980s it moved to English Village, and then to 3904 Clairmont Avenue (adjacent to Smith & Hardwick) in Forest Park.

Cather & Brown specialized in rare and out of print books about the South and Southwest, the Civil War and the Confederacy, African-American history, jazz, blues, and Alabama history and culture. The shop published an annual catalog of special offerings, and offered expertise in searching for hard-to-find volumes within its area of focus.

In addition to books, the shop also stocked vintage record albums and printed collectibles. It closed in the mid-1990s

References

• Cather, James Pat (1991) "The dealer in local materials: The Alabama local history librarian and the out-of-print problem." Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 65-76