1) An issue of The Antiquarian Bookman from 1959 has an article called “New England Triple-play” which, judging by the snippets on Google Books, gives a fairly detailed multi-page boots-on-the-ground tour of Providence’s used book shops as they were at the end of the 1950s, including addresses. Regrettably, such a useful journal is not digitised and online.

2) A few weeks ago I wrote here about ‘uncle’ Eddy’s bookshop and Lovecraft. I see that later there was also a Dick’s Book Shop in Providence, and that the owner made a claim to Lovecraft in the 1960s. Like uncle Eddy’s Book Shop this shop also dealt in second-hand books. This other book shop was announced in Publishers Weekly as moving from 487 Westminster St. in 1939, to 70 Richmond St. It then pops up in Antiquarian Bookman and a trade directory at 102 Broad St., for a few years circa 1958-61. Then it appears back at Richmond St., at No. 44, during the 1960s.

Anyway, here are the basic details of this other shop’s claimed connection with Lovecraft, as remembered by ‘Jimserac’. He was commenting on a post on the blog “Notes From A Burning House: Remembrances of Bookstores Past” in July 2008…

In the 60’s you could walk into Dick’s Book Shop on Richmond Street and buy a copy of Davie’s Geometry, or any number of other antiquarian books, for maybe a dollar, two at the most and be treated to Dick’s first hand description of his personal acquaintance with H.P. Lovecraft.

The veracity of the owner’s remembered claim seems questionable, though. Since Dick’s appears to have been first established after Lovecraft’s death. The shop is not found by either the “Dick” or “Dick’s” name, or the Westminster St. address, in the 1920, 1934 or 1936 Directories for Providence.

Dick’s is not to be confused with the Dana bookstore. This other store appears to have been a rather more upmarket used bookstore, and judging from the brief Dana memoir of Lovecraft he almost never went in there and didn’t converse when he did.