E. Shaver is housed in a building constructed by a female builder, Eliza Jewett, in 1842. In the 1950's it was home to an antiques shop before being bought in 1975 by Ed and Esther Shaver, a newlywed couple from Louisville, Kentucky who visited Savannah on their honeymoon. In 2015 Esther sold the store to one of its employee's, Jessica Osborne who runs the store with her partner Melissa Taylor, and shop cats Bartleby, Mr. Eliot, Skimbleshanks, and Morticia.

In January 2023 E. Shaver opened a second location in collaboration with the Foxy Loxy coffee shop in the Gingerbread House also on Bull Street, a mile away from the original bookshop.

"Savannah’s oldest bookshop, specializing in new and regional books."