About Us

We are committed to offering  important British and American first editions in the Modernist vein, with an emphasis on books by and about women and their adjacent admirers; Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press; the Bloomsbury Group of geniuses, artists, eccentrics, paramours, poseurs, poets and peasants. Literature, poetry, small and fine press, books about books, letters, billet-doux and manuscripts, original artwork, and photographs are some of the things that interest and delight us but as we remain open to the adventure of new avenues of discovery, please contact us for any title, in any genre in which you have an interest.

Leslie Arthur was a litigation paralegal for sixteen years before she acknowledged the uncomfortable realization that although she had thought her life would be a tapestry, in actuality it proved to be yards and yards of  grey commercial carpet. That moment of clarity allowed her to think about what professional avenue would lead to the more varied life she sought. After an examination of her strengths and interests [books], she was fortunate to be hired in late 2006 to begin to learn the art and craft of bookselling at the William Reese Company, under the tutelage of a truly great bookman, Terry Halladay. Along the way she attended eleven courses at Rare Books School in Virginia, New York, and New Haven, obtained a second BA in English, a Masters in English Literature, and additional work in Gender Studies. She is honored to offer some of what she was privileged to learn over the past sixteen years now in a shop of her own.

Why Second Wind Books?

When Leslie convened with friends and family to discuss the possibility of an online shop it was suggested that although she had many years of experience in rare books a solo shop would be something of a "second wind," and the name was adopted. Always interested in offers of books, manuscripts, and letters of quality -- please contact us via email, text, or by an old-fashioned phone call.