Among The Stacks

[poliphilo]

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.

Comments

[cmcmck]

I love the fact that it appears to have more doors than floors and doors that aren't human size.

Reminds me of Terry Pratchett's theory of L-space! :o)

Rochester is my home town of course, so you won't hear me arguing with you, although I also know the down sides (as well as the unusual bits of which there are many) if you want to hear them.

[shewhomust]

I thought that Barter Books in Alnwick - which occupies the whole of the old railway station - claimed to be the biggest in the country, but I see that their website stops at 'one of...' Certainly a good bookshop is an attractive feature when you're thinking of moving - but weren't you looking at the coast?