Edinburgh’s Book Quarter
Six independent bookshops, one bookbinder; the West Port boasts a concentration of bookshops that is unparalleled in most British cities. Each bookshop has its own atmosphere and ethos. All are home to the ineffable workings of serendipity.
There is Andrew Pringle Booksellers, the always amusing Armchair Books (plus dog), Main Point Books, Peter Bell Books and a specialist foreign language bookshop with no name. There is also, just down the hill, the Owl & Lion Gallery, where you’ll find Isabelle Ting, our local book binder. Scottish Pictures is an essential stop for print and map enthusiasts, whilst the Old Town Bookshop, although situated five minutes away on fashionable Victoria Street, is a spiritual brother of the West Port bookshop crowd.
Twitter Feed
- @zorrasband @UnchartedWorlds I'd be happy to discuss this in person so please pop in to the shop for a chat sometime
- @zorrasband @UnchartedWorlds Hi. I stock many different genres of lit in the shop but I don't always promote them.
- Sorry to hear @cabaretvoltaire is closing. Seen some fine gigs there @handsomefamily @WillyClayBand, Buddy Miller, Hayes Carll #Edinburgh
- Well done to @AtlantisBooks for getting into The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World. http://t.co/g1Vu9Ejk
- @UnchartedWorlds @zorrasband Hi. Generally we put posters up connected with the shop or for things that I'd be happy to promote personally
Recent blog entries
- Burns' Night on the Oder, 1945
Once in a while we all need some escapism. Some reach for a Terry Pratchett, others pick up an Agatha Christie to get their minds off the cares of the day. My escapist reading is, well, it’s literally escapism. Ever…
- A couple of Poems
Apologies for the lack of recent blogging activity. I have been out to pasture for over a year but I’m fed up with grazing(pun intended) and intend to blog much more frequently…at least one entry every six months.
I was just… - Beware the Ulsterman my son...
I bought a wee book at the auction today called Malice in Kulturland by Horace Wyatt, published by The Car Illustrated in 1915. It’s a satire on the political situation in Europe at the start of the Great War in the style…
- In the beginning...
It has gone out of fashion in these post-modern times, but stories used to begin with a beginning, progress to a middle and conclude with an ending. Open-minded as I am, I have never minded a slight twist in the…
- Book Inscriptions # 1
You find all sorts of inscriptions in books, usually on the front endpaper, from the plain name and address to pledges of undying love. I came across one today at the front of a copy of ‘Grammont’s memoirs of the…