Inside the secret WeHo bookstore behind Book Soup

Tucked away on a narrow alley on the Sunset Strip is one of Hollywood’s most charming boutiques. Founded by father and son Harvey and Louis Jason in 1998, Mystery Pier Books is a bookstore specializing in rare first editions, many of which are signed.

Recognized by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers as one of the best in the world, Mystery Pier shares the same neighborhood with another local literary landmark, Book Soup, which sells only new books. But Mystery Pier offers much more than just a vacation boating experience.

Enter and visitors are taken into a portal to another dimension. It’s a museum of literary history where you can touch and, if you can afford it, even own the treasures that line its walls.

However, inventory can change quickly. On the day I visited, there were several plays by William Shakespeare, the first to be bound and printed individually ($4,500-$12,000); an English version of The Communist Manifesto signed by Joseph Stalin and priced at $35,000; and a 1947 first edition of The Diary of Anne Frank in the original Dutch version, one of only 3,000 in existence.

Gentle Harvey, 85, is a vivacious London-born actor who first came to Los Angeles to play Julie Andrews’ assistant in the 1968 musical. Star! He worked steadily until his last on-screen role, in 1997. The Lost World: Jurassic Parkin which he plays Ajay Sidhu, a hunter of Indian origin. (His wife, Pamela Franklin, is also an accomplished actress who starred alongside Maggie Smith in 1969. Miss Jean Brodie’s first.) His son Louis, 49 years old, proudly shows me his father’s Jurassic Park articulated figure, still in the box.

“When we packed The lost world, “I was driving Steven Spielberg’s car around the Universal parking lot,” Harvey says, petting Booksy, the store’s cat. “I told Steven, ‘I’m quitting acting and starting a book company with my son.’ He said, “Harvey, you’re an actor. A bookstore? I don’t believe you. I said, “We’ll see.” »A year later, we opened this store. And I’ve never been happier.

And while Spielberg never weighed in, countless other celebrities did. Their photos line the walls. Flea of ​​Red Hot Chili Peppers hit the streets just days after the store opened and has been a staple ever since. Diane Keaton was a Mystery Pier expert until her death in October. (His filming script signed by Annie Hall sells for $8,500, the store’s most expensive storyline.) Johnny Depp, who played a rare bookseller in The Ninth Gateis practically a brand ambassador, ordering its T-shirts – which along with tote bags have become trendy fashion pieces – by the carton to his nearby mansion on Sweetzer Avenue.

Angelina Jolie? “Beautiful.” Black Jack? “Wonderful.” Only a handful of stars left a sour aftertaste. “Roseanne Barr came in one day and kept saying, ‘You only sell old books here?!’ » remembers Louis. “Then she asked if we had a “Louie Laymore.” I think she was talking about Louis L’Amour,” Harvey adds with a laugh.

Mystery Pier specializes in Charles Dickens and early editions of Great Expectations, the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby And Olivier Twist are for sale. These are not books per se, but breathtaking boxed assemblages of original, illustrated monthly installments. “Those were the soap operas of the time,” says Harvey.

Because Depp was recently announced as playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a remake of A Christmas Carolthe Jasons started getting their hands on a first edition of the holiday classic. “This time of year, studios call us and say, ‘So-and-so is starring in a movie. It’s X, Y and Z. What do you think would be a good match?’ So we find the perfect gift.

This story appeared in the December 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.