More London Book Stores

Just over three weeks ago my wife and I were in the UK still on the second last leg of our "world tour".  On a drizzling Saturday morning I travelled on the underground to London where I had organised to meet a guy named Darren, whom I'd never met before.  Darren also collects Bond books and we became friends after he found my PizGloria.com website and contacted me.  When I told him I was travelling to the UK he said we could catch up and show me some London book stores.  I agreed so we organised to meet at the Bond literature specialists Harrington Books.

 

Almost as soon as I entered Harringtons a staff member greeted me and for a moment I thought it could be Darren as I didn't even know what he looked like.  When I realised it wasn't I explained "I'm fine thanks.  I'm just here to meet a friend".  I made my way to the fiction section and found the Fleming books which can be seen below.  A very impressive collection for sale.

I then walked toward the back of the store, passing a wall featuring a Thunderball poster and some autographed Bond photos.

At the back of the store there was a glass cabinet in which heaps of rarer Bond books were on display.  Photos can be seen below (sorry about the reflection).

Another staff member greeted me.  He introduced himself as Jon.  I asked "Jon Gilbert?" and he answered "Yes".  Jon is the author of "Ian Fleming: The Bibliography" and is also heavily involved in James Bond First Editions which is affiliated with Harrington Books.  When I first asked if I could take some photos and then mentioned I was waiting for Darren, he said "I know Darren.  He's a regular here".

I noticed a display copy of "Ian Fleming: The Bibliography" and asked some questions about it.  Suddenly Jon was guiding me through his massive reference book, showing me images of rare covers, explaining how a certain cover had just made it in for inclusion and discussing some of the unusual covers he'd encountered.  I felt very fortunate to have such an introduction to the book and I knew I had to buy it.

It was about this time that Darren arrived.  We greeted each other and he was quickly emptying his bag and handing me three paperback books.  "You can have them for free." he said "Just buy me a coffee later".  Thanks a heap Darren.

And if this wasn't enough, suddenly Jon took us into another room to show us his own Bond collection.  Talk about impressive.  When comparing it to my own collection I certainly felt humbled.  And I have never handled such rare books before.  I did happen to take some photos too, and hopefully these will be displayed on the Collectors Corner page of my website soon.

When we finally left Harringtons after about 2 hours, Darren and I then caught a double-decker to Hatchards, the oldest book store in the UK.  Here we asked about the imminent release of William Boyd's "Solo" and whether they were organising any promotion for the book.  "No" was the reply, although they did have a special-edition hard back listed on the computer.

We made our way to the fiction section but couldn't find any Fleming novels. We did manage to find a copy of the last Deaver Bond release with a favourite cover of mine.

We then walked to Waterstones just up the street where I was hopeful there would be a window display for "Solo".  Unfortunately there were renovations being made to the front of the store and there was no window display.  In fact the front window was barely visible behind the scaffolding.  Inside we found Vintage Books editions of the Fleming Bond novels as well as Orion editions of the Gardners.

There were also many Higson "Young Bonds".

Almost immediately after exiting Waterstones I had to leave Darren to catch up with my wife and Aunt who were waiting for me near Harrods.  And just as I was walking down the stairs at Piccadilly Station, having said goodbye, I realised I hadn't bought the coffee I'd promised him.  Sorry Darren, I definitely owe you a coffee next time !  And what a great morning of Bond books too.

And for those interested here's some photos taken while my wife and I were in the UK:

Leeds Castle, Kent

 Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury

Dover beach with some white cliffs in the background.  Yes, the beach is covered in pebbles

British Museum, London

Lower down the river Thames near Marlow

A Reliant Robin still on the road

Buckingham Palace, London

 London Eye

Houses Of Parliament, Westminster

New York Blog Entry Updated

When I previously created a blog entry about New York while on our recent "world tour" I couldn't attach any photos as they were on a memory card that wasn't compatible with the iPad.  This issue has now been remedied and the previous New York blog entry now features many photos so please feel free to re-visit it again by clicking here.

Ruislip And London Book Stores

The new James Bond novel "Solo" written by William Boyd was released today in the UK.  When I was in London just over a week ago I visited many book stores in my search for promotional material for the new book but alas found nothing.

However I did find some book stores of interest.  The first was Madcap Books in Ruislip.  This new releases book store has only been open for a short time and Jackie, the owner, explained it was the only new book store to open in London during the entire previous year.  This store has a wide selection of adult and teenage novels (including Charlie Higson "Young Bond" novels) and Jackie is very enthusiastic about books and her store.  I wish her all the best.  The website for the store is here but if you physically visit the store be sure to pick up a business card which resembles a stamp with the effigy wearing a hat.  Like it !

 

My wife and I then visited some rare and antiquarian book stores in Cecil Court and Charing Cross Road, central London.  Here's some photos which feature many Jonathan Cape First Editions.

View looking down Cecil Court

Goldboro Books, Cecil Court (including two Flemings in the front window)

Tindley & Chapman, Cecil Court

Pinda Bryars Books, Cecil Court (with one Fleming in the front window)

David Drummond, Cecil Court (also with one Fleming in the front window)

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Cecil Court

And some second hand book stores on Charing Cross Road just around the corner.

Any Amount Of Books, Charing Cross Road

 Henry Pordes Books, Charing Cross Road

Quinto & Francis Edwards Booksellers, Charing Cross Road

 

And the last bookshop Koenig Books, Charing Cross Road, which sells arty books

It was certainly a busy couple of hours visiting these stores !

A Tale Of Two Lamp Posts

Two days ago while in the UK I travelled with my wife and Aunt on the underground to London.  Prior to doing some shopping and sight seeing we first made our way to Westminster where we took a photo of a lamp post.  Yep, sounds weird.  But it was the lamp post used in promo photos for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and was always going to be a pilgrimage site for me on our current "world tour" due to my appreciation of the film.

Happy with the photo I thought "mission accomplished" and we boarded a double-decker for Oxford Circus.  And as we crossed the bridge in the bus toward Big Ben I referred to the photos of Mr Lazenby I'd been carrying around with me and realised I'd made a rookie mistake...

... it was the wrong lamp post.

My heart sank as I then noticed the correct one through the moving bus window just metres from where we'd just been standing beside the Thames.  And as the rest of our day was so planned out to the minute I knew there was no way we could turn around.

So the next day, the last day of our holiday in the UK and with packing still to finish before our flight, I woke extremely early and caught two trains to Westminster.  And this time I snapped the correct lamp post before rushing back to my wife and the lift to the airport.  Mission accomplished... successfully this time !

From Paris With Love

While continuing our "world tour" my wife and I left New York for a wedding and some sight seeing in Paris.  First stop on the obligatory book hunt were the book stalls by the Seine.  As always there were plenty of Bonds and the stall holders were all very helpful with my search.

Notre Dame, the site of our friends wedding, in the background.

After purchasing a French Bond from one stall my wife and I then searched for a book store we had visited on our previous trip to Paris back in 2007.  Fortunately we found it.

L'amour Du Noir bookstore contains hundreds of books.  It's really well organised and the owner proved very helpful.  They also have heaps of French Bonds in great condition... I counted 25 and ended up purchasing two including a "Dr No" with Sean Connery's image on the cover, although I suspect it was printed after 1962 as it not only contains images inside from the aforementioned film, but also of "From Russia With Love".  Still a great find though.  Here's some pictures of their shelves.

And finally, some more photos of Paris not book related...

Eiffel Tower (obviously)

Moulin Rouge

Jardin du Luxembourg, easily one of my favourite parks in Paris.  My wife and I had a romantic picnic here and later watched the kids pushing their toy boats in the fountain

Sacre Coeure