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Hill of Content

Among Melbourne's finest bookshops, the Hill of Content has traded at 86 Bourke Street since July 1922. Young Sydney bookseller, Colonel A.H. 'Bert' Spencer, moved to Melbourne and borrowed £1000 to buy the ramshackle premises. The shop, selling new and second-hand books, was a small oasis for booklovers and part of the transformation of the top end of the hill into a haven for the literati. A three-storeyed shop was erected after the original shop was demolished in 1929. In 1952 Spencer sold the business to Angus & Robertson who later sold to Collins Booksellers.

Carly Millar

References
Spencer, A.H., The Hill of Content: Books, art, music, people, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1959. Details