TPHCM Bookstores

From charles.keith@yale.edu Wed Apr 6 02:32:08 2005

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 05:31:45 -0400

From: Charles Keith <charles.keith@yale.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: [Vsg] TPHCM bookstores?

Hi folks,

Can anyone recommend any rare bookdealers in TPHCM with decent collections of books from the colonial period?

Thanks,

Charles Keith

From phansen@ourladys.org.au Wed Apr 6 04:09:25 2005

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 21:08:50 +1000

From: Peter Hansen <phansen@ourladys.org.au>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: 'Vietnam Studies Group' <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: RE: [Vsg] TPHCM bookstores?

Dear Charles & list,

There is a second-hand shop with an excellent collection from the Diem period on Dien Bien Phu, just up from Hai Ba Trung (sorry, don't remember name or number). Don't know where it has anything from the colonial period, but I suspect it might.

Peter Hansen

From quang.van@yale.edu Wed Apr 6 05:46:29 2005

Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 08:46:01 -0400

From: Quang Phu Van <quang.van@yale.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>, vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: Re: [Vsg] TPHCM bookstores? BEFEO

Dear Charles,

How are things in VN? Nguyen Hoang Trieu is a student at the law school there and also a book dealer. He has a large collection of rare books but also can provide you with many valuable information. He has a collection of the old BEFEO and many other rare titles.

His email is <trieubook@yahoo.com>. Phan Nhien Hao, the curator at UCLA SEA

Collection, should be able to help you.

Quang

Anh Van kinh men.

Em goi lai anh danh muc cu the cua BEFEO de anh tham khao :

1/ Tome 79.1 - 1992 . 322 pp

2/ Tome XXXIV - 1934 - 400 pp

3/ Tome XLVI ( Facs 2 ) - 1954 - 639 pp

4/ Tome XXXVII ( Facs 1 ) - 1937 - 262 pp

5/ Tome II - 1902 - 450 pp

6/ Tome LXV ( Facs 1 ) - 1978 - 321 pp

7/ Tome XLVIII ( Facs 1 ) - 1954 - 350 pp

8/ Tome XXXIV ( Facs 2 ) - 1934 - 807 pp

9/ Tome XXIV - 1924 - 648 pp

10/ Tome XLV ( Facs 1 ) - 1951 - 268 pp

11/ Tome XLIV ( Facs 2 ) - 1954 - 685 pp

12/ Tome XXXVIII ( Facs 2 ) - 1938 - 510 pp

13/ Tome XXXIII ( Facs 2 ) - 1933 - 1171 pp

14/ Tome LXVII - 1967 - 358 pp

15/ Tome XXXIV ( Facs 2 ) - 1934 - 807 pp

16/ Tome XL - 1940 - 556 pp

17/ Tome XXXIV - 1934 - 841 pp

18/ Tome LIV - 1954 - 640 pp

19/ Tome XXXVI - 1936 - 702 pp

20/ Tome XXI - 1921 - 698 pp

21/ Tome V - 1905 - 521 pp

22/ Tome XXXIV ( Facs 1 ) - 1934 - 400 pp

23/ Tome LV - 1969 - 309 pp

24/ Tome XXII - 1922 - 463 pp

25/ Tome XXXIX - 1939 - 402 pp

26/ Tome XXVI - 1926 - 688 pp

27/ Tome XLVII ( Facs 1 ) - 378 pp

28/ Tome LX - 1973 - 427 pp

29/ Tome XXVIII - 1928 - 347 pp

30/ Tome XXVII - 1927 - 544 pp

31/ Tome LXVIII - 350 pp

32/ Tome XXV - 1925 - 650 pp

33/ Tome XLVII ( Facs 2 ) - 1953 - 190 pp

34/ Tome XXIII - 1923 - 612 pp

35/ Tome XXVIII ( No 3;4 ) - 1928 - 319 pp

36/ Tome XXX ( No 3;4 ) - 1930 - 453 pp

37/ Tome XLII - 1942 - 244 pp

38/ Tome XXX ( No 1;2 ) - 1930 - 247 pp

39/ Tome XLI ( Facs 1) - 1941 - 466 pp

40/ Tome XLI - 1941 - 461 pp

Em that long rat muon nhuong suu tap nay lai cho anh. Anh co the tra tu tu

cung duoc.

Kinh

From dutton@humnet.ucla.edu Wed Apr 6 07:37:27 2005

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 07:36:56 -0700

From: George Dutton <dutton@humnet.ucla.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] TPHCM bookstores?

Hi Charles,

The following are my bookstore notes from when I was in HCMC in 1998 - a bit outdated no doubt, and perhaps not all relevant to your colonial interests, but I offer them for what they are worth.

Regards,

George Dutton

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tiem Sach - 20 Ho Huan Nghiep (between Dong Khoi and Hai Ba Trung)

A large selection with lots of French-era stuff including scholarly reprints. I believe prices are mostly listed in US$, meaning that things are fairly expensive. I was able to bargain for a few books that were parts of an incomplete set. The books are neatly shelved and titles are easy to see.

Eden Bookshop (in a warren of shops in the tunnel (called Passage Eden) that runs through the middle of the complex bounded by Le Loi, Nguyen Hue, Dong Khoi and Le Thanh Ton: can enter from either Dong Khoi or Nguyen Hue (by the park in front of the City Hall)

A good selection in a cramped setting. I had to shift books around a lot to view titles. Good selection of older Vietnamese titles and some French-era and English-language books. Prices are fixed and also on the expensive side.

Cua Hang Sach 176 - 176 Nguyen Chi Thanh (843-6707) (between Su Van Hanh and Nguyen Duy Duong, on north side of the road)

Small selection of materials, but very reasonably priced. Not much lit and history (2 small shelves), the rest being more recent local and translated fiction, section for sciences and medicines.

Quay Sach - 110A Nguyen Chi Thanh (839-0603)

A great place with a large selection of lit, reference and historical titles, but in a rather chaotic setting. The prices are reasonable, though fixed (as at most places), and the staff get out of your way to let you browse.

(No name) - 103 Nguyen Chi Thanh (on south side of street, between Nguyen Duy Duong and Nguyen Tri Phuong)

A small selection, including a few older historical titles, incl. eg. Minh Menh Chinh Yeu(?), and the prices are rather on the high side and the proprieter showed no interest in bargaining.

(no name) - small shop almost directly across from the one above on Nguyen Chi Thanh

Small selection, though very neatly arranged. Minimal materials relating to history and literature and staff seemed very uninterested in assisting me. I found nothing interesting here, but perhaps for someone interested in non-history/lit. titles it might have something.

Hieu Sach Cu - 204 Vo Thi Sao (between Tran Quoc Thao and Le Quy Don)

A small place, but with a wall of older literature and history materials where I found a few worthwhile titles. Here the prices were not fixed, but the proprietor was helpful and priced the books very fairly. He was also the person who put me on the track of all the used bookstores on Nguyen Chi Thanh.

Nha Sach 28 Dong Khoi - 28 Dong Khoi (between Ho Huan Nghiep and Nguyen

Du)

A fairly good selection, including especially a lot of older French-era materials and a fair amount of older English-language material related to Vietnam as well as other topics. The more valuable books are kept in glass cases. The prices are quite high - eg. a copy of a very worm-eaten 1980s book on village names had a fixed price of 150,000D (I later bought the same book, in the same condition for 1/3 of that price.)

(no name) 250B Tran Hung Dao (between Nguyen Canh Chan and Tran Dinh Xu)

Small place with a not very large collection in history or literature. Still, it does have a small number of items and might be worth checking out. There are two more stores next to it which also have similarly small collections. Note that these stores are not obvious from the street, because they do not have large signs and sell calendars and other stationery goods as well.

(no name) 244 Tran Hung Dao (between Tran Dinh Xu and Ho Hao Hon)

This is the ultimate place for browsing, with a very large collection especially in literature, but a good selection of history items as well, including some of the late 1960s and early 1970s editions of 19th century texts which include both quoc ngu and chu Han. The prices are perhaps a little on the high side, but they might well have things other places do not. The books are roughly sorted, but even so a thorough search of their holdings can easily take a few hours.

From christina.firpo@gmail.com Wed Apr 6 10:26:23 2005

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 10:25:55 -0700 From: Christina Firpo <christina.firpo@gmail.com>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] TPHCM bookstores?

Hi Charles and list,

There's a great selection of used book stores on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (sort of near the Le Hong Phong school). There are about five or six of them in a row, right across the street from a new bookstore, which is worth checking out. You'll have to bargain hard but they either have, or can get, just about anything. I'd be willing to argue that they rival Ong Canh on Bat Dan in Hanoi. Also right up the street from the E Den alley (also in an alley) is an old man with an impressive collection. He too can get his hands on almost anything. Happy Hunting.

Christina

Christina Firpo

PhD Candidate

Southeast Asian History

University of California- Los Angeles