At first glance, Cross Street in Chestertown, Maryland appears like many picturesque, tree-lined streets in a small colonial town. But then you notice something unique; three bookstores on one street, a veritable dream for book aficionados.

Each bookstore has a slightly different angle and expertise. The Bookplate, located at 112 Cross Street, specializes in used books with an emphasis on local history, plus it offers handcrafted imported pottery and olive oil for easy one-stop shopping.

The Compleat Bookseller, on the corner of Cross and High St., features contemporary and classic books. It also boasts 20,000 titles and an extensive children’s section with books, gifts and toys.

The Chestertown Old Book Co., 113 South Cross Street., specializes in rare and second-hand books. It features fine press books and antiquarian collectibles. Gerard Cataldo founded the store and partners with James Dissette, who runs the Chester River Press. Their collaborations have yielded several fine press books including Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” which garnered the 2010 Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design.

They carry two of our titles. Tennessee, a limited edition, four-color letterpress book containing Tennessee Williams’s plays “These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch”, “The Glass Menagerie” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Three Miles from Providence: A Tale of Abraham Lincoln and a Soldiers’ Home, a handmade leather volume that contains the fictional tale of seven generations associated with Lincoln’s Cottage, the “Camp David” of the times where Lincoln spent one quarter of his presidency, and is believed to have written a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. May we suggest a book-browsing day along Cross St., among its triad of bookstore. You are sure to find some literary treasures of many kinds.