I Was Dancing

Whitmore Used & Vintage books was born in 2020 as I began to sort through my grandparent’s collection of lovingly cared for books. My grandmother, once a reviewer and copywriter, and my grandfather, a comic book and screenwriter, had a vast library of books accumulated over more than six decades, as well as books inherited from their parents. I shared a love for books with them, but I knew that I could never read or care for all of the substantial library I had. Thus, our shop was created, with the purpose of finding homes for these books with people who would cherish these books as we have. We are a small, woman owned business based in Washington, connecting you with quality used books and beautiful, well cared for vintage books.

Our descriptions range is for the condition our books are in is as follows: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. Each book includes a full description of any cosmetic issues or damage.
For vintage books, excellent is defined as very minor cosmetic damage (such as slight wear to the cover edges or minor sun fading to the spine) with no stain, tears, or writing inside. Very good may include slightly more cosmetic damage (such as more sun fading to the covers, a few small spots on the covers, minor wear to the spine), with no stain or tears inside, and may include the former owner's name written inside the front cover. Good includes cosmetic damage to the outside (such as spots or minor spotting, minor wear to the edges of the book, sun fading to the spine or covers), possibly some loosening of the fabric of the spine (with the binding still well attached) , with no major stain or tears inside. Fair may include cosmetic damage (ranging from wear and visible spotting to the covers or spine), loosening of the fabric of the spine or binding detaching from the covers, and possibly minor tears or stains inside. Poor includes major exterior or interior cosmetic damage (such as tears, significant stains or spotting, major wear to the covers), binding detaching from the covers or loosening of the pages from the binding, and writing or highlighting inside.
For used books, excellent is defined as little to no cosmetic damage (like new; very minor wear to the edges of the covers or dust jacket), with no stains, tears, or writing inside. Very good may include slightly more cosmetic damage (such as minor wear to the cover edges or spine), with no stains, tears, or writing inside. Good may include cosmetic damage (such as wear to the exterior, a very slight bend to the cover or pages, or previous owners name written inside), with no stains or tears. Fair may include exterior or interior cosmetic damage (such as wear to the spine or covers, small tears or subtle spots on the covers, small tears inside or an inscription/some underlining on the pages. Poor includes major exterior or interior cosmetic damage (such as tears or stains to the pages or covers, writing or highlighting inside, large bends to the pages or covers).

For domestic orders, we ship via USPS MediaMail (2-8 Business Days), USPS Priority Mail (2-3 Business Days) or USPS Priority Mail Express (1-3 Business Days). For international orders, we use USPS Priority Mail International (6-10 Business Days) or USPS Priority Mail Express International (3-5 Business Days). If you’d like to use a different service, please send us a message before ordering to arrange it. Due to Covid-19, shipping times may vary. Our processing time to ship orders out is 1-2 days. You will be provided a tracking number to follow its progress. Smaller orders are shipped in bubble mailers, and larger orders are shipped in boxes, all packed with care. Shipping costs are determined by weight and speed of delivery.