In May 1898, Paul Elder and Morgan Shepard opened their new bookstore at 238 Post St. (where Gump’s is today) and named it “The Book and Art Shop.” In looking for ways to distinguish their shop from the many other bookstores in San Francisco, they settled upon ambience. In a memoir Elder wrote: “Books were the dominant interest in the Post Street Shop, pictures and pieces of pottery and metal being displayed as adornment, and to give an uncommercial atmosphere.” However, Elder’s own 1904 catalog emphasizes the art objects and minimizes the books. He surrounded the books with pottery from Dedham, Redlands, Newcomb and Pewabic; copper from Jarvie and Toothaker; paintings by Keith, Cadennaso, Noyes and other plein air artists; photographs by Genthe and Dassonville; leatherwork; jewelry; Japanese prints — and all of it was for sale. This carefully crafted ambience remained Elder’s defining characteristic throughout his career.
Elder’s approach was successful, and his shop became the literary place-to-be in the first years of the 20th century, much as Doxey’s shop had been in the 1890s.
Elder’s influence was not confined to California. About 1905, a visitor from Missouri named Fred Rust was inspired by a visit to Elder’s shop. He returned to Kansas City and in the fall of 1906 he opened the ‘Book and Craft Shop,’ decorating it much as Elder did the Post St. store. Rust later founded Rust Craft, one of the largest greeting card companies in America. Elder and Shepard began to publish books as soon as they opened their new shop: just a few at first, but more as their experience and confidence grew. By 1903 they had published about 40 titles, many of which were designed and decorated by Shepard.
Elder and Shepard used three different printers during this period: Charles Murdock (who had printed The Lark for William Doxey), Stanley-Taylor Company, and the Twentieth Century Press. At these last two firms they worked with John Henry Nash, who in 1903 would become Elder’s printer and designer.
Only one known photograph exists of the exterior of Elder’s 1898 bookstore at 238 Post St. It’s a distant shot, taken from the top of the St. Francis Hotel on the morning of 18 April 1906, a few hours after the famous San Francisco earthquake. The resulting fires are already out of control, and the clouds of smoke darken the sky (see photos below). It’s ironic indeed that the only photograph of the building was taken just a few hours before it burned to the ground.
