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Thread: vintage/second-hand-bookshops in london

  1. #1
    defying description inbetween's Avatar
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    Question vintage/second-hand-bookshops in london

    hey there. this goes to all of you who live in London, or know London well enough. I'll be spending some time in London next year (first time since I was there when I was little) and now I'd be very happy if you could recommend some good vintage/second-hand-bookshops and give me the addresses so that I can bye lots of old books... (perhaps you even know some shops where I could get more penny dreadfuls or so... ).please, help me
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    http://www.inprint.co.uk/thebookguid...on/index.shtml

    Start "Central" on Charing Cross Road! There are big shops like Foyles & Blackwells for new books and lots of little shops, the kind you are probably looking for.

    Skoob "66 The Brunswick" is well worth a visit, and Waterstone's Booksellers 82 Gower Street has an excellent second hand & remaindered section (much better than the average Waterstones!)

    Watch for book fairs:

    http://www.inprint.co.uk/thebookguide/fairs/index.php

    And Oxfam shops.

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    Registered User kiki1982's Avatar
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    Is Covent Garden not known for its bookshops and good second hand dealers in general? It's some time since I went shopping there, but I seem to have heard something about it. But do not let yourself be fooled. They do tend to slightly overcharge in London in general and certainly old books might become either bargains or things you pay way too much for.
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    If you have the time you might also take a look in the British library. They have all sorts of literary treasures on display: Jane Austen's writing desk, letters from Thomas Hardy, pages out of Dickens' jotting books etc etc

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    Tu le connais, lecteur... Kafka's Crow's Avatar
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    Haven't been to Charing Cross road for almost a decade now. I used to go there to buy books and pipe tobacco years ago (when I was an old young man in my late 20s). Charity Shops are in every street and you can find treasures in there for, literally, pennies. Charing Cross shops are on the expensive side. There was a good 2nd hand bookshop on Edgeware High Street. I bought books from there on my wedding day!
    "The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kafka's Crow View Post
    Haven't been to Charing Cross road for almost a decade now... Charity Shops are in every street and you can find treasures in there for, literally, pennies. Charing Cross shops are on the expensive side. There was a good 2nd hand bookshop on Edgeware High Street. I bought books from there on my wedding day!
    It's a couple of years since I visited, and I saw no charity shops on a day walking round the main central bookshops. So expect to go off route to find them:

    http://www.timeout.com/london/shoppi...ity_shops.html

    Can anyone just walk into the British library now? I had to flash my academic credentials to get in a decade ago.

    There were bookshops around Covent Garden when I visited a couple of years ago, but not so many as Charing Cross. It's well worth a visit anyway for street buskers, architecture, other shops, etc...

    The Southbank Centre often has second hand booksellers selling their wares outside, near the river.
    Last edited by mal4mac; 12-14-2009 at 09:42 AM.

  7. #7
    Registered User Emil Miller's Avatar
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    You might find what you are looking for here.

    http://www.inprint.co.uk/thebookguid...uth_west.shtml

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    defying description inbetween's Avatar
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    thx to all

    you guys are great, whatever I ask you always give useful answers thx a lot ...
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    Oxford is worth checking out for a pleasant one-day walking tour of bookshops. It's an easy day-trip journey from London, and there are a number of shops in the centre mixed in amongst the colleges and other architectural features... (They have a very good Oxfam shop and Blackwells has a great second hand section...) Try to and go on market day...

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