#antiquarian books

Sotherans of Sackville, W1S has existed as a booksellers in roughly the same area of London since 1851 when the late great expansionist of the family enterprise Henry Sotheran first staked his claim to central. In the 165 years since it has grown to become a premier destination bookshop for antiquarian titles based in no small part to its established practice of buying whole libraries (most notably those of Charles Dickens and Sir Isaac Newton!) The staff team take tremendous pride in their shop and offer excellent customer service and an overwhelmingly joyous verbal history of this stunning current shop and all its previous incarnations at neighbouring addresses. They were keen for me to stress that antiquarian books do not necessarily mean expensive and they offer collections ranging from bargain to one of a kind. Certainly the vast two floor experience of Sotheran’s is itself one of a kind and I would whole heartedly and rapidly recommend it. http://www.sotherans.co.uk/

Bryars & Bryars, WC2N. Back to Cecil Court and the infinitely charming B&B. This antiquarian map and early edition specialist has blown my mind with their selection of rarities; earliest sea chart of the Americas? Check. London wartime tube map posters? Sure thing. First edition of Lord of the Rings? You better believe it. The Bryars (Tim and Pinda,) are gushing with knowledge and will give you a tremendously warm welcome. Tim has previously shared his cartographical expertise on the BBC and is is currently collaborating for a very special exhibition of the history of 20th century Maps for the British Library opening October 2016. With items for all pockets/wallets you would be woefully remiss to deny yourself a outing to this very fascinating corner at the heart of Charing Cross. http://bryarsandbryars.co.uk/

Heywood Hill Books, W1J. On Curzon street behind a modest front lies a bookish vault of delight fast approaching its 80th birthday; Heywood Hill specialises in antiquarian, modern second hand and contemporary titles, which means they can pretty well lay their hands on anything for you. Beyond the bespoke ordering service the actual shop is a massive wonderful period destination with oodles of titles right the way through from contemporary literature, to a very well rounded out children’s section, to vintage fashion texts. Pleasingly it was nice and busy when I visited with a strong local interest. One could easily lose an afternoon or three in here. http://www.heywoodhill.com/

Maggs Bros. Ltd. W1J. A very pleasingly voluminous antiquarian specialist right in the heart of Mayfair. A bamboozling array of titles combined with a dedicated team of no less than 20 make them a very serious prospect when it comes to sourcing unique private requests. Autographs to Japanese photography; it’s all covered here. Suddenly that fantasy personal library seems a step closer. https://www.maggs.com/

Luciano Zuccoli. Donne e Fanciulle. Milano: Fratelli Treves. 1914

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was first published on this day, 19 December, in 1843.
Here we have the first American edition, published in Philadelphia by Carey & Hart in 1844. Illustrated with four hand-coloured, lithographed plates by P. S. Duval after John Leech. Original gilt-stamped cream cloth, title page in red and blue, and with yellow endpapers. Gilt-stamped pattern repeated in blind on back. Slight soiling to covers, original pale endpapers spectacularly oxidised, extremities skilfully restored, still a near-fine copy of one of the rarest issues of this famous Christmas story. Currently in our shop at 46 Curzon Street.