Who are we?

Peek-a-Book Rare Books has been in business since the summer of 2024. As far as we know, we are the only specialists in documents related to the history of South Asian Indians in the United States, focusing on their appearance in print since the late nineteenth century. We also collect documents attesting to Western interest in India and Southeast Asia, with a focus on books and ephemera tracking the influence that Indic religions have had on spiritually inclined Westerners. In addition, we are developing our expertise on the representation of African Americans in non-Abrahamic religions, especially with regard to the history of Islam in the United States.

A two-person operation, Peek-a-Book Rare Books is based in Lewiston, Maine, and proudly owned by a second-generation Indian American, Pico Banerjee. Having been employed by bookstores and rare bookdealers since high school, Pico is a lifelong lover of stories, rabbit-holes, and all things intriguing. He is a graduate of Bates College, where he majored in English and Philosophy, and wrote two year-long studies of the transgressive French authors Georges Bataille and the Marquis de Sade. He was employed for two years by James Arsenault and Company, from whom he learned to speak good bookinese as well as the broad contours of the Americana trade. He is also pursuing a Masters in Library Science at Simmons University. Since February 2025, Pico has been a staff writer at UpPortland, Downtown Portland's Newspaper, in Portland, ME.

While Pico sources and catalogs, the photographer, image-maker, and logistical brains of the operation is Katie Courser. She is a graduate of MECA&D, a painter, and currently teaches kids in Maine how to have fun making art.