Who we are
We are based proudly in Stockport, UK - the new Berlin according to some - and it's an exciting time to run a business in the Sunday Times sometime 'best place to live' in the northwest of England.
Owner Gareth remembers a conscientiously complete collection of paperback Famous Five. At the time, most of his other voracious childhood reading came from the public library in Broughty Ferry. He started buying collectable books in London in the late 1980s. In those pre-internet days, there were still spectacular finds to be made every Saturday on the first floor of Dillons University Bookshop in Bloomsbury. Today, we still think we have a modestly good eye for what might be interesting – both now and in the future.
Although we are very much an online business, we do partner in pop-up shops, appearances and themed events. Please get in touch if you think we could collaborate.Our favourite authors to read are modern: Margaret Atwood, John le Carré, John Fowles, Jonathan Franzen, Patrick Hamilton, Rohinton Mistry, Marilynne Robinson, among many others. We also like French authors like Michel Houllebecq, Patrick Modiano, Eric Reinhardt, and Leïla Slimani.
Condition of Books
Above The Mystery of the Strange Bundle by Enid Blyton
To avoid unwelcome surprises in the post, we try to describe our books as accurately as we can.
Assessing the condition of vintage items is always a matter of opinion, but booksellers normally use a set of shorthand descriptors. We have chosen to adopt those of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA), a respected industry body in the UK. To these, we add explanatory comments from the ABE website, and some of our own. In using these descriptions, we aim to avoid exaggeration in order to make a sale.
Photographs: We think photographs best describe the physical condition of a book so please rely on these. We never use stock images or representative images.
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Mint/As new This is the only indisputable definition. The book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published and is without blemish. This could be the description for a book that has been lost in a warehouse for years, never shelved, thumbed or even opened, yet may still be some years old (Note: this may exclude some books sold ‘new’ in bookshops - beware of shelf and handling wear when purchasing).
Near mint May just not qualify for the first classification by dint of a small and usually imperceptible fault. Maybe a very slight dint.
Fine A Fine book approaches the condition of Mint/As new, but without being so crisp or obviously new. The book will have been opened and evidently read, but there are no serious defects to the book, jacket or pages. Any defects are noted. Sometimes we use Near fine if we can't quite make up our mind.
Very good Describes a book that shows signs of wear - but no large tears or losses - on either binding, paper or jacket. Defects are noted.
Good Describes the average used worn book that is well-read, and has all pages or leaves present. Defects are noted.
Fair Worn book that has complete text pages but may lack endpapers, half-title pages. Binding, jacket etc. may also be worn. All defects are noted.
Poor Describes a book that is worn with major defects. This copy may be soiled, scuffed, stained or spotted and may have loose or missing joints, hinges, pages, etc.
Reading copy A copy usually in poor to fair condition that includes all text presented in a legible fashion. The copy is fine to read but nothing more. We also sometimes apply this term to later impressions of first editions, which are identical in most respects to the first impression but which may be otherwise fine or very good in their physical condition.
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Our Promise
The no-quibble guarantee means that if, once a book is delivered, you do not agree with our description, we will happily refund purchase price and return postage.
Purchasing, postage and packing
We hope you find the online purchasing process smooth. If you would like to pay in another way - e.g. by bank transfer or paying by card over the telephone - please get in touch by phone or email.
To give our books more exposure, we list them on other established book-selling market-places and we thus offer our customers more choice in the way they shop. That said, we guarantee our prices will always be lowest on this web site because of reduced overheads and commissions. Discount codes will only apply when purchases are made through this web site.
Free standard shipping within the UK
In the UK, we normally use Royal Mail. Different rates of shipping will be applicable at checkout for all international (non-UK) customers. The rates shown are INDICATIVE only and may be adjusted up or down - please CONTACT us before ordering.
We deliberately recycle packaging. Your books will be given much care and attention before dispatch and will sometimes be sent in pre-used materials. If you need new or gift packaging, please let us know when ordering.
As a matter of course, all our books are cleaned sensitively, researched, catalogued, and photographed - thus treated with the respect a vintage artefact deserves. We then re-cover most of our books in new, industry standard protective wrappers. These are inert, acid-free, and will not harm the book or dust jacket. We don't do this only if there is already a clean and serviceable wrapper on the book, or if to remove a previous covering would cause damage.
We buy books
We are always interested in buying quality books similar to the ones we have on sale, although that is not necessarily exclusive. We can discuss this in any way that's convenient for you, and we make home visits.
Our stock
We don't list all of the books we actually have, so we strongly encourage you to submit a LEAVE A WANT request if there's something you'd like, that you think we might have. Also, we can search for and usually find any book that you are interested in - again, please LEAVE A WANT, phone or email. Contacting us is often easier than trying to navigate the sometimes confusing world of secondhand books. Our stock changes all the time so we also recommend you sign up for NEW ARRIVAL NOTIFICATIONS in the categories that interest you.
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