My great-uncle Harry Karnac, who has died aged 94, opened his first shop in Gloucester Road, central London, shortly after leaving the RAF at the end of the second world war. It was a small general bookshop on two floors. One day, the noted psychologist Clifford Scott, who lived nearby, suggested Harry should stock a pamphlet written by a colleague of his, Donald Winnicott.

The young bookseller knew almost nothing about psychoanalysis, but took a chance and stocked the pamphlet. Many psychoanalysts lived and worked in the area and it sold very well. Winnicott himself, a leading paediatrician and psychoanalyst, came into the shop and suggested Harry specialise in selling books on the subject. He became a regular customer. Other leading lights in the field who became frequent visitors were Barbara Woodhead, Millicent Dewar, Henri Rey and Masud Khan.

Very soon, H Karnac (Books) became the place for psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, from both Britain and abroad, to loiter in search of the latest publications to land on the shelves. The business grew throughout the 1960s and 70s, with Harry later branching into publishing some of the many specialist works that had gone out of print. He opened a second Karnac bookshop in Finchley Road. When he retired in the 80s, the new owners and all subsequent owners continued to trade under the Karnac name.

Harry was born in the East End of London to Jewish parents, Yachet and Jacob, immigrants from what is now Ukraine, who had arrived with the waves of east European Jews escaping the pogroms. His father died when Harry was just 15 months old and his mother sold dairy produce in the market to support him and his two sisters.

He had a passion for books from a very early age and in the politically vibrant London of the 30s joined the Communist movement, as active in their theatre productions (occasionally appearing at the Unity theatre in Mornington Crescent) as he was in their politics.

He remained politically active and informed until shortly before his death. He hardly let up in retirement, publishing in 2007 a very detailed bibliography listing the works written by and about Winnicott. He also compiled and published bibliographies on Wilfred Bion and Melanie Klein.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth (nee Monnickendam), daughter, Naomi, and sister, Gertrude. His son, Ralph, died in a motorcycle accident in 1967, aged 16.