London is usually considered a book reader’s heaven because one can find a whole range of book shops from second hand book shops all the way up to specialty book shops. Some of these bookshops have with stood the test of time and still continue to attract visitors from all over the world. A few such golden booksellers are detailed below – some of the oldest in London.
Foyles
Foyles book store has been a part of the London bookscape since 1903. The book store has grown and grown over the last hundred years and now sits in a vast expanse spreading across five floors. There are books pertaining to more than 50 departments including Architecture and Design, Art, IT, Fiction and Poetry, Essays and Writing, Health and Wellbeing, Food and Drink, Music and Dance, History, Philosophy, Sports and Hobbies and Transport.
Located in Charring Cross Road in Leicester Square, This five-storey book store has a separate section called London Books, wherein visitors can find books about London, books written by London authors and stories that are set in London.
Foyles also conduct the Literature Tours Festival that takes customers on a day or weekend tours to different parts of England and Wales that are famous for its literary works such as Haworth, Stratford, the home of Shakesphere, Laughame, the place where Dylan Thomas spent his last few years, and Missenden village, where Roald Dahl spent much of life writing books.
Blackwell
For people looking for more academic book shops, one of the popular booksellers in London is Blackwell. People looking for some rare books can find a whole range of titles from Oxford and other publishers in the Antiquarian section of the book store.
Blackwell began their existence in 1875 as a rare book seller from a tiny shop in Broad Street. In addition to rare books, Blackwell also has a huge collection of classical CDs belonging to different genre like Chamber, Jazz, Instrumental, Orchestral, Vocal and Choral. The store contains some of the latest academic books in subjects including Business, Economics, Medicine and Law.
Hatchards
Hatchards was set up in 1797, and has the distinction of being the oldest bookseller in London. Located in Piccadilly, it has a range of special edition and signed books belonging to different genres. Many famous authors have signed at Hatchards over the years including Stephen Fry, Lauren Bacall, Joanne Harris, J. K. Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith, David Attenborough and Howard Jacobson. They sell books pertaining to specialty subjects like Gardening, Food and Drink, Biography and Art and Royalty. During the Christmas Season, an annual event is held at the book store a few days before Christmas.
Stanford’s
Stanford’s is another bookseller who has been in the business for more than 150 years. The store was founded in 1853 by Edward Stanford. The flagship store at Covent Garden has a whole range of travel books on its racks. It also has the world’s largest collection of maps of the present landscape, and also maps of the various dynasties and kingdoms of bygone eras.
Also, if you want to find shops in London, there is a useful website www.MapToBuy.co.uk