James Metcalf on the fictionality of the latest archaeological page-turners
Stephen Puddicombe looks at the unusual appeal of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Ciaran Rafferty investigates the science of book classification
MINSTER GATE BOOK SHOP 8 Minsters Gate
The first thing a person sees as they walk in through the door is a sign announcing that this shop has seven rooms – yes, you heard me, SEVEN ROOMS. Excited already. If you’re looking for old looking books with pages that smell like something from a Jane Austen novel then I recommend that you stay in the front room. As I glanced at all the pretty books around this room my eye was caught by a four volume complete poetical works of P.B. Shelley. I had struck gold: this was a mint condition, first edition 1876 complete collection, and it could have been mine for the small sacrifice of £195! Moving on the back room on the ground floor I came across a selection of mounted art prints. In all honestly there were a whole lot of pretty pathetic water colours of flowers and fruit, but along the back wall was a selection of prints of William Nicholson’s 1898 Alphabet woodcuts, among other late Victorian graphics art posters. Up the stairs you’ll find general non-fiction, everything from philosophy to gardening. Most of the books in this shop are second hand but in piles around the floor in the upstairs rooms are discounted new books; I can’t necessarily vouch for their quality, but if you fancy a historically dubious account of a scandalous monarch, come here! Next flight of stairs up is two rooms, one dedicated to history, the other to literature – heaven! I was then slightly disappointed to find that the classical writing floor turned out to just be a book case half way up a flight of stairs. I did, however, find a row of nice late 18th century histories written in Latin; unfortunately after only three level 1 Latin classes, I can’t tell you what these books were actually about!
LITTLE APPLE BOOKSHOP 13 High Petersgate
This one wasn’t a marked destination on my route around York, but I saw it and thought it was worthy of a pop in. The stock here is mostly new copies of modern fiction and there were no obvious price discounts, it’s simply an independent bookshop selling the best sellers – Harry Potter, Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones, Twilight, the usual. Intermingled with the books was a nice selection of really cute Moomin plates and incredibly tempting array of tacky Harry Potter gifts.
OXFAM BOOKS 69 Low Petersgate
Here you will find a pretty standard selection of second-hand modern novels, local histories and books about crafts or gardening. Also, if you’re jetsetting off anywhere any time soon, duck into this place for a quick browse through a pretty impressive travel guide section. The section that caught my eye was the one labelled ‘Nostalgia’, which certainly boasted a colourful selection of books, some of the early penguin paper backs and a collection of late Victorian popular culture literature. Last, and probably least, I thought I should let you know that there’s also a rather extensive bookcase dedication to literary criticism, if that floats your boat.
Check back on Sunday for part two!
You must log in to submit a comment.
