Evening Land Books

Evening Land Books began with fits and starts over the course of many years. Its owners, Kristina Intinarelli and Matthew Kollmer, are lifelong bibliophiles and collectors who share an unabated desire to acquire more books. They met while working as rare booksellers in Bauman Rare Books’ Las Vegas gallery. This position gave them both a stellar education on the most rare and valuable editions. Then their careers turned toward independent pursuits, with Kristina operating her own bookshop, formerly known as Bartleby’s Bookshelf, while Matthew personally consulted a number of rare book collectors. But by 2022, they had come together to focus on Evening Land Books. It is a labor of love, one developed through many conversations about the ideal bookstore, and how it ought to function.

We take our name from a poem by D.H. Lawrence. It’s one of many poems about America. There are other outstanding examples by Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Katharine Lee Bates, Allen Ginsberg, and many others, but “The Evening Land” appealed to us because it captures a sentiment about America that we share: a longing for the attainment of its ideals. And while we are not necessarily Americanists by focus, neither was D.H. Lawrence. He was a British expatriate and a poet of many subjects. We therefore felt that “The Evening Land” was a spectacular eponym.

We also adore the sound of the name. “Evening Land” conjures that place of not-quite-sleep often found while reading on a quiet night before bed. That, too, is a sentiment, one we share with all bibliophiles, a peacefulness in the space of stories, language, books, and ideas.