BOOKSHOPS, DISAPPEARED

Better Books

Better Books was owned by the publisher John Calder. As a publisher, his authors included William Burroughs. The shop was involved in the avant-garde arts scene of the late 1960s. The people who worked there included Tony Godwin (d.1976), who had founded the business in 1946, and the countercultural figure Barry Miles.

Location: 94 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JA (orange, pink)

No. 84 Charing Cross Road

No. 84 Charing Cross Road was premises of the booksellers Marks & Co. (Co. stood for Cohen).

In 1949, in response to a magazine advertisement, the New York-resident author Helene Hanff wrote to Marks & Co. asking the firm to find her some books. This led to a long, intimate correspondence with the shop's manager Frank Doel, which was published as a book 84 Charing Cross Road (1971). This was made into a movie.

Miss Hanff and Mr Doel never met one another.

Location: 84 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JA. (In 2009 the building formed part of a pub.) (orange, red)

Compendium

Compendium was founded in 1968 by Diana Gravill and Nicholas Rochford. It was the U.K.'s premier independent-alternative bookshop. Its shelves were the spawning ground of a series of book subject categories that are now grist-to-the-financial-mill of run-of-the-mill bookstores - Alternative Medicine, Black Studies, New Age, Women's Studies. The business closed in 2000.

Location: 234 Camden High Street, NW1 8QS (orange, yellow)

Thomas Guy

Thomas Guy M.P. had a bookshop on the corner of Lombard Street and Cornhill. He made a 500,000 fortune from printing and selling Bibles and from timely speculation in the market for South Sea Company shares.

Location: 1 Cornhill, EC3V 3ND (orange, purple)

The High Hill Bookshop

The High Hill Bookshop was opened in 1956 by Ian Norrie (1927-2009). Initially, he only knew that the property was owned by a Mr X as a tax write-off. In 1967 he learned that Mr X was Christina Foyle, for whom he had once worked and with whom he had an ambivalent relationship; he was to use her as the basis of a character in his novel Brought To Book (2003).

Upon selling a copy of Racine's Andromaque to the opera director Jonathan Miller, Norrie commented, I suppose this is the next one you re going to mess about with. The children's department had a sign that read Parents of Progressive Children Only Admitted On Leads .

Mr Norrie closed the shop in 1988.

Location: 6a-7 Hampstead High Street, NW3 1PR

St Paul's Churchyard

From the late 15^thC onwards booksellers traded in St Paul s Churchyard. The land was subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This meant that foreigners and non-liverymen could operate there without their activities being hindered by the City of London's authorities or guild authorities.

During the early 20^th Paternoster Row was the hub of the British publishing industry. The district's warehouses held many millions of books at any given time. During the Blitz the area was destroyed by aerial bombing. Following the return of peace the publishers moved their business away from the district.

Location: St Paul's Churchyard, EC4M 8AD (purple, turquoise)

The Temple of The Muses

James Lackington was an autodidact who taught himself to read and who then developed a love of literature. In 1774 he established himself as a shoemaker in Featherstone Street, to the north of Bunhill Fields. He decided to use the spare space in his premises to display books that were for sale. His initial stock came from a sack of old theology books that he had paid a guinea for. He proved to be a highly adept bookseller and soon gave up making and selling footwear. He relocated to No. 64 Chiswell Street. In 1779 he issued his first catalogue. He developed a series of innovative retailing practices that included: selling remainders cheaply, cash only sales, and continuous self-promotion. He even kept his account books in the shop where they were open to public inspection since he did not believe that there was any benefit to be gained from keeping secret the financial aspects of his business. In 1789 he opened The Temple of The Muses, a domed bookshop on Finsbury Square. This had a 140ft.-long frontage and featured a large, central counter, around which a coach was driven during the first day of business.

In 1841 The Temple of Muses burned down.

Location: 39-45 Finsbury Square, EC2A 1PX (red, blue)

See Also: SHOPPING Wedgwood

David Backhouse 2024