Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Booksellers row: The tiny London street filled with bookshops
National World - LocalTV
Follow
23/02/2024
We speak to some of the most famous book shops in the capital, on a magical London street.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
This is Cecil Court, one of London's hidden gems. Its nickname is Booksellers Row,
00:06
with bookshops on the street that are over 100 years old.
00:11
I think it's a rather lovely thing, you know, there aren't that many bookshops
00:16
concentrated into one particular area in London anymore, and although Charing Cross
00:20
Road used to be full of the most exquisite bookshops all the way up and
00:25
down Charing Cross Road, this is now the one tiny area that's left, and we were
00:30
the original, this bookshop in particular, was the origins of Foyle's Bookshop,
00:34
which was the largest bookshop in the world at one point, but which is now a
00:39
little bit further up on Charing Cross Road, but it started in our shop.
00:43
So it was founded in 1989 by a man called Kenneth Fuller, and we've
00:49
specialised in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass ever since we
00:53
opened. We have an original Dalek from 1975, and we buy and sell all sorts of
01:01
different rare children's books dating back to the late 17th, early 18th
01:07
centuries right through to now. We have a lot of people who come in asking about
01:11
Harry Potter or Grimm's Fairy Tales or the Moomin books, and we have plenty of
01:17
those examples as well as many other things, so it's a lovely bookshop to work in.
01:22
At the moment we have a lot more people bringing books into the
01:26
shop to sell rather than the people want to buy. Well, we're in a
01:33
recession. It's the most exquisite book, it's Grey's Elegy, illustrated by a man
01:40
called Owen Jones, but it has the most exciting, most beautiful cover, which
01:47
looks like carved wood but it's actually leather, tooled leather, and it was
01:52
published in 1842, 1846, and it's just one of the most exquisite illuminated
01:58
manuscripts I've ever seen. It was published as an illuminated manuscript
02:02
but it is printed, but it has the most delightful work in it. I'd be heartbroken
02:08
if someone wanted to buy it. I love
02:12
sitting on some of the stock we have and I enjoy it. Yeah, so Watkins Bookshop
02:18
started 130 years ago down on the Strand near Trafalgar Square and moved to this
02:24
location about a hundred years ago basically, and they've been doing pretty
02:29
much the same sort of books which are esoteric, occult, comparative religion and
02:34
all the sort of connected subjects around those. People who love this type
02:40
of subject, they definitely know Watkins and we are one of
02:46
the three bookshops of London. Also Treadwells and Atlantis Bookshop are both
02:53
up by the British Museum, so we cover similar subjects, but we
02:58
very much are proud of the range of our material.
Recommended
1:00
|
Up next
People of London: Which high street shops do you miss?
National World - LocalTV
yesterday
1:30
London’s fake houses with a secret tunnel
National World - LocalTV
24/01/2025
3:00
London’s hidden street lined with old book shops
National World - LocalTV
24/01/2025
0:55
Look around London: Dean Street
Local TV
18/06/2025
1:01
Harry Potter locations in London you may not know existed
National World - LocalTV
04/08/2023
3:00
London food hot spot: Borough Market
National World - LocalTV
21/02/2025
1:00
‘It’s a tough nut to crack!’: Are there any friendly areas in London?
National World - LocalTV
6 days ago
1:38
Londoners reveal their favourite places for an autumn walk in the capital
National World - LocalTV
16/10/2023
2:00
The best place for a London walk in 2025
National World - LocalTV
31/12/2024
3:00
The Square Mile: London’s most historic area
National World - LocalTV
27/06/2025
0:55
London Landmarks: Downing Street
Local TV
10/04/2025
1:00
People of London: Favourite UK airports
National World - LocalTV
16/04/2025
0:55
London Landmarks: Exmouth Market
National World - LocalTV
26/03/2025
0:55
Look around London: Fitzrovia
Local TV
14/05/2025
2:00
What to do in London on New Years Day
National World - LocalTV
24/12/2024
3:00
Brick Lane: London’s vintage shop haven
National World - LocalTV
30/08/2024
8:25
What To See & Where To Go In Soho, London
Condé Nast Traveler
25/10/2022
1:00
Londoners on the best museum in the capital
National World - LocalTV
12/05/2025
2:00
Best autumn walks in London according to locals
National World - LocalTV
02/09/2024
3:00
London bargain hunting: Antique stores in the capital
National World - LocalTV
28/02/2025
3:00
A guide to London museums
National World - LocalTV
22/04/2025
1:00
Best places to live and explore in London
National World - LocalTV
26/03/2025
0:55
Look around London: Hyde Park
Local TV
23/07/2025
0:55
Look around London: A guide to Richmond Park
National World - LocalTV
05/03/2025
1:45
British Library set for £1billion extension
Local TV
23/04/2025