Daedalus Books, the used bookstore in front of you on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall, was established in 1975. Step inside in your imagination: this quirky institution has occupied the same location for more than 50 years in a building more than 100 years old, and it houses more than 100,000 books. If you love surprises, you’ll understand why reviewers call it cozy, bewildering, and even a three-story temple of secondhand literature.
A Washington Post reviewer described Daedalus as the best bookstore south of the Strand Bookstore in Greenwich Village, and locals follow that praise with a smile. The name Daedalus hints at its charm: the bookshelves create a Labyrinth in which people become lost. Hand-written receipts are still part of the experience, and the poetry room draws particular attention — it even contains the death mask of John Keats.
Daedalus sits among Charlottesville's network of unconventional businesses and is a destination for those visiting bookstores on the Downtown Mall. Author Rita Mae Brown said that Daedalus and McAdams delighted her. Let the stacks guide your feet toward the labyrinthine shelves and the poetry room, where the death mask of John Keats waits among the pages.