The Monkey's Paw – Toronto, Ontario - Atlas Obscura
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The Monkey's Paw

Toronto, Ontario

A book collector's dream, this Toronto bookstore has the world's first "Biblio-Mat," a random book vending machine. 

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The Bilio-Mat Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
The Bilio-Mat Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
Inside the bookstore Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
Inside the bookstore Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
The Monkey's Paw Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
The Bibliomat machine kimikat (Atlas Obscura User)
The infamous Biblio-Mat in 2021 Cooth (Atlas Obscura User)
The Monkey's Paw Courtesy The Monkey's Paw
Storefront of the Monkey's Paw inspector pinto (Atlas Obscura User)
Biblio-Mat at Monkey’s Paw 45rpm (Atlas Obscura User)
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All of the books lining the shelves of Stephen Fowler’s bookstore are ones you couldn’t possibly find anywhere else.

Fowler opened The Monkey’s Paw in March 2006 and since then, it has been a haven for antiquarians, complete with medical drawings on the wall and a stuffed crow on a typewriter.

The unusual store, named after a horror short story by author W.W. Jacobs, has old books that range from topics as diverse as the art of predicting female character traits according to breast shape to Canadian Egg Laying Contests.

Fowler selects each book to fit these categories: the beautiful, the arcane, the macabre and the absurd. Monkey’s Paw also has a custom-made Biblio-Mat, a vending machine that will dispense a randomly selected vintage volume when a token is inserted. Tokens can be purchased from the checkout for $5 apiece.

Know Before You Go

The entrance is four buildings in from Havelock Street.

antiquities bookstores purveyors of curiosities repositories of knowledge shops collections
Nearby
The Wood Cake House
0.87 miles
Sewers of Toronto
1.54 miles
Casa Loma
1.69 miles
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