Foyles of London Bookshop, Charing Cross Road
Browse an Enormous Range of Books at London's Largest Bookstore
In a world of Amazon.com a physical bookstore stands out as an anachronism. London's Charing Cross Road used to be a haven of bookstores - Foyles once claimed to be the biggest bookshop in the world, and other notable bookshops included Zwemmer's for art books and Silver Moon. In the battle of the physical and the virtual, it is surprising that the giant generalist Foyle's seems to have prevailed. Although the area around Charing Cross Road is still known for bookshops some of the specialist shops have gone to the wall.
Browse 30 Miles of Bookshelf Space At Foyles Bookshop, London
It is the range that makes Foyles worth a visit. Non-fiction books, in particular, cover such a wide range that few stores carry a large range, even in a university town. Foyles claimed 30 miles of bookshelves at one point, and now that the books have been classified according to subject in a way than ordinary people can understand, the range in a fantastic resource meaning that it is possible to see if a book is pitched at the right level. This process is so much faster when presented with a shelf of real books, as opposed to even innovative on-line alternatives such as Google Books and Amazon's Look Inside. Foyles is rarely the cheapest place to find books, but the range and the instant gratification is sometimes worth paying for.
Foyles Was a Unique and Puzzling Experience For Book Buyers in the 20th Century
The store has had a chequered past, and certainly was a source of frustration for would-be purchasers in the latter years of the 20th century. The issues have been addressed now, but were the source of much folklore about this iconic bookstore.
Visitors and tourists alike who were drawn to Foyles in the 20th century were greeted by a sprawling site with the books organised in a unique method based on the book publisher. It made finding books more a matter of serendipity than intelligent search. However, the huge range of books meant that it was worth persevering. The tribulations of potential buyers did not end with finding a book. They had to take the book to a sales desk, and naturally proferred their payment, only to be handed an invoice for the title which was taken off them and placed in a pile on the desk. The carbon-copy counterfoil for the invoice was strapped to the book with a rubber band and they were directed to a payment desk on the ground floor, running the risk of getting lost in the labyrinth of stairs and mezzanine levels. Once the invoice had been stamped paid at the cashier, they could queue up a third time at the sales desk to collect the book itself.
Foyles could get away for years with these archaic business practices which seemed rooted in the 1950s because of the enormous choice which drew readers. However, a change in management has finally drawn the store into the modern era. It is now possible to locate a book by general subject area, and buying it is a single transaction at a sales desk as in any other bookshop for the last 40 years.
Charing Cross Road is the London Book Lovers' Mecca Offering Foyles and More
Foyles at 119 Charing Cross Road is one of the best known bookshops of London but though the area has been depleted of some of the bookstores it is still a rich seam to mine. Borders is across the road from Foyles, and travelling further down the road towards Leicester Square Tube Station there is Cecil Court, home of a number of antiquarian bookstores including Watkins and Mysteries for New Age, Self-Help and Eastern Religions.
Getting to Foyles Bookshop by Public Transport
Tottenham Court Road Tube Station is a short walk from Foyles - travellers should prefer the Oxford Street South exit of the station but take care to start walking south along Charing Cross Road rather than west along Oxford Street. The skyscraper Centre Point should be immediately to the right rather than to one's back. Buses 14, 19, 24, 29, 38 go up Charing Cross Road.
Foyles Bookshop Neon Sign
|
Foyles (left) looking North up Charing Cross Road
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Travel
Latest Articles