Old Corner Bookstore site

The Old Corner Bookstore building at 283 Washington Street was the 19th-century publishing headquarters for Ticknor and Fields and a meeting place associated with authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau. The structure remains on Washington Street amid Downtown Crossing retail and now houses commercial tenants, so its literary history can be easy to miss from the street. The site is marked and interpreted by plaques, but primary archival materials and detailed histories are held in libraries and require specific research to access. Its embedded location in a busy commercial block contributes to its 'hard to find' feel for literary history seekers.