Among The Stacks
Baggins in Rochester claims to be the largest second-hand bookshop in the country. I don't know if that can be substantiated but it certainly covers a lot of floor space- stretching back to the depth of four rooms (I think that's right but I may have miscounted)- with staircases you could easily overlook, tucked in among the stacks. It's very like the bookshops I wander through in my dreams.
We bought the set of Dickens we'd seen in the window. It's the biographical edition from 1907- in 21 volumes- with all the original illustrations- and introductions by Arthur Waugh, Evelyn's dad. It's in good condition- except that Pickwick has some torn pages. They were asking £100 less than the price I was thinking we'd have to pay.
While I was searching through the stacks (picking up four volumes of Denis Wheatley, a copy of Beau Sabreur and a first edition of Mary Renault's Mask of Apollo) Ailz was sitting in the front shop with her phone, looking at house prices. Rochester has a cathedral, a castle, a river, a characterful high street, the nation's biggest bookshop and easy access to London and the M25. Above all, it's cheap. We couldn't afford an apartment with a river view in a fashionable town- like Lewes, for example- but we could in Rochester. It bears thinking about.
We bought the set of Dickens we'd seen in the window. It's the biographical edition from 1907- in 21 volumes- with all the original illustrations- and introductions by Arthur Waugh, Evelyn's dad. It's in good condition- except that Pickwick has some torn pages. They were asking £100 less than the price I was thinking we'd have to pay.
While I was searching through the stacks (picking up four volumes of Denis Wheatley, a copy of Beau Sabreur and a first edition of Mary Renault's Mask of Apollo) Ailz was sitting in the front shop with her phone, looking at house prices. Rochester has a cathedral, a castle, a river, a characterful high street, the nation's biggest bookshop and easy access to London and the M25. Above all, it's cheap. We couldn't afford an apartment with a river view in a fashionable town- like Lewes, for example- but we could in Rochester. It bears thinking about.