Ken Sanders Rare Books is a full service antiquarian bookshop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. We carry an ever-changing inventory of art, ephemera, maps, photography, and postcards in addition to a vast selection of used and rare books along with a few new books. We also purchase and appraise books.

Our inventory is diverse, and our specialties include Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, B. Traven, Utah and the Mormons, Modern First Editions, Grand Canyon, Colorado River & Colorado Plateau, Western Americana, Native Americans, The Intermountain West, Southwest, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Wilderness & National Parks, Public Lands, the Environment, Explorations & Surveys, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and the Literary West.

FINDING NEMO - Everett Ruess Found After 75 years?
By Ken Sanders

Seventy-five years after Everett Ruess wrote his last known letter to his Brother Waldo, from the tiny Mormon outpost of Escalante, Utah in November of 1934, declaring that “As to when I shall revisit civilization, it will not be soon, I think. I have not yet tired of the wilderness”, remains of a corpse tucked away in a crevice in a remote area of southeastern Utah known as Comb Ridge is believed to be that of the young vagabond artist.

DNA samples taken from four nieces and nephews are believed to match those of the remains so closely as to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that in fact, Nemo has been found. Allowing that the body found in Comb Ridge is that of the once youthful Ruess, does this really solve the 75 year old mystery of Everett Ruess? I think not. It only deepens the mystery...

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The Death Of The Book Redeux
By Ken Sanders

In some manner or another, I have been involved in the world of books, in the broadest definition of those words, virtually all my life; a galaxy of books, a universe of words, painted, printed, or otherwise: words within worlds...

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Everett Ruess Block Prints

"As to when I shall revisit civilization, it will not be soon I think. I have not yet tired of the wilderness." In November 1934, shortly after writing these words, Everett Ruess disappeared from the rugged canyon country near Escalante, Utah, and was never seen again. He was only twenty years old. Although his burros were found near his camp, his fate remained a mystery until recently. Everett Ruess was an artistic, adventurous young man who set out alone several times to experience the beauty, as well as the fury of nature in the American West. During the 1930s, he met and discussed art with painter Maynard Dixon, and with well-known photographers Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange. He was lured first by the splendors of Yosemite and the California coast and later by portions of the lonely Red Rock Country of Utah and Arizona. In the 74 years since his disappearance, Ruess has become a cult hero and a powerful icon for those striving to save the canyon country of the Southwest. His free spirit, artistry, and enduring legacy are represented as much by his mysterious disappearance as by the collection of stark yet stunning woodblock prints he left behind. Thankfully, when Ruess claimed "when I go, I leave no trace," he was only half-right.

View our Everett Ruess block prints.

Featured Event:
Reading & Book Signing with Poet Eric Tanner

Ken Sanders Rare Books is pleased to announce a reading and book signing featuring poet Eric Tanner, author of Rhythms of the Moon, on Thursday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. at our downtown bookstore (268 South 200 East). Copies of Rhythms of the Moon ($20.00, paperback w/ CD) will be available for purchase and signing at the event. This event is free and open to the public.

More details.

View all our events.

The Monkey Wrench Gang
By Edward Abbey

Hardbound illustration edition in dustjacket. A dozen full page illustrations and 30 chapter head illustrations by legendary sixties underground comix illustrator and American icon, R. Crumb. Colorful R. Crumb dust jacket as well. Plus full page photograph of Edward Abbey and R. Crumb in Arches National Park. As new condition.

Give someone the experience of browsing our unique store, and picking out exactly what he or she wants - give a Ken Sanders Rare Books Gift Certificate!