Notice Board
January 2012
Subscribers to Slightly Foxed and members of The Society of Young Authors are entitled to a 10% discount for purchases made in the shop, ordered by phone, or email, until the end of February. There’s still nothing like the value of a good book in these harder financial times.
We wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!
Literary Sets & Bindings
The shop has always had a good stock of library sets and some of the highlights of our house calls are the beautiful bindings or private press editions we find. We are now featuring some of these here on the website in a new section under General Stock: Old Books. Please get in touch if you would like to know more about these or wonder if we have another author in stock.
Winter Catalogue
The shop’s new Winter Catalogue is now online. Celebrating Penelope Lively, New York, Evelyn Waugh, plant hunting, aunts and Scotland (amongst other things), we trust you’ll find much food for thought and perhaps one or two ideas for Great Uncle Matthew’s Christmas stocking.
Love Your Indie
The shop is delighted to be taking part in the Guardian’s Love Your Indie scheme. Please see the website for details: www.loveyourindie.co.uk. For every £10 spent, you will receive one stamp on your registered Love Your Indie card. This applies both to new and old books bought in our shop.
Autumn 2011 - Additions to the website
As well as producing the second Old Book Miscellany, we have been putting fresh items in most sections of the General Stock, both old and new. For instance, there’s lots of medieval history, a smattering of biographies of the good and not-so-good, some lovely examples of charming and illustrated, and Jane and Aimi have kindly improved the new children’s books so that they are divided up by age group. We’ll continue to add to all these and hope that you’ll find things to tempt you, even if they are used to fill gaps in your Christmas shopping list!
Vintage Independent Bookseller Award
Vintage is celebrating its 21st birthday this year and held a party at the Polish Club in Exhibition Road on 22nd September. About 250 editors, agents, authors and booksellers squeezed into the building and Tony, Aimi and Jane were amongst the crowd. The occasion was also used to announce the winners of the Vintage Independent Bookseller of the Year for those who’d done most to promote the publisher since January. We were surprised and delighted to be given Third Prize. The bottle of champagne is now on ice and the cheque for £250 will be spent on a sumptuous staff dinner (with David included, of course). Vintage publish many wonderful books and we’re always happy to see Amanda (on the left in the photograph) when she comes to show us what’s forthcoming. Many happy returns!
Now We Are Two
The shop celebrated its second birthday on 10th September and Jane kindly baked a Smartie-covered cake. Here are Tony, Jane and Aimi cutting the first slice. The photographer had to be quick because the plate was soon empty. Delicious!
Candlestick Press
The launch for Candlestick Press was a great success and a lovely evening. Jenny and her feline friends have been kind enough to describe their impressions on the Candlestick Press website.
Summer Catalogue
The second Slightly Foxed catalogue is out. The books are listed in the Shop Online section of the website – please take a look. If you’d prefer a printed copy, please drop the shop an email. Happy browsing!
Running for camels
Congratulations to Jane who has run her first marathon. She completed the 26.2 mile course on a sweltering Sunday in Brighton in just under six hours. Jane is a patron of The Wild Camel Protection Foundation which works to help the endangered Bactrian camels of the Gobi desert. Sponsorship of her run has raised more than £1,500 so far but any contributions you care to make will be very gratefully received. Do please get in touch with the shop.
April 2011
We’re delighted to be featured as one of the tranquil oases in Siobhan Wall’s new book Quiet London. We have signed copies in stock.
We’ve recently bought some beautiful literary sets and handsome leather bindings. Combined with fresh daffodils and lots of new books springing from the publishers, this is a very good time to pay the shop a visit. Have a Happy Easter.
February 2011
The Winter Catalogue has been a great success and we’re delighted that you’ve responded so enthusiastically. At the moment, we’re busy putting together the Summer Catalogue for 2011 which, we think, should help you decide what to pack for the beach.
Meanwhile, after the indulgence of Christmas, we’ve noticed our letterboxes becoming increasingly laden with the usual advertisements for miracle diets and gym memberships. Nevertheless, on a more bookish note, you may feel that your shelves are groaning and could do with some thinning out. If so, we’re here to help!
There should always, however, be room for new additions. We’ve been improving our website so you’ll be able to find more books in general, as well our regularly updated staff recommendations. Please do take a look.
This be the verse . . .
We’re always thrilled to get compliments from our customers. Here’s a nice mention in The Spectator:
October 2010
As the leaves descend and the autumn chill sets in, why not take refuge in our cosy little shop? Each and every one of our second-hand books is bought from private collections, almost on a daily basis, making the stock just as serendipitous for us as it is for you; and our small selection of new books, neatly displayed on the ground floor, are always carefully chosen with our customer’s interests (and the changing moods of the season) in mind. See ‘Who we are’ for a few thoughts on our current favourites – books that we’d have no hesitation in recommending to the avid autumnal reader.
September 2010
Back to school for some, back to work for others. Publishers are already gearing up for Christmas, so our next email newsletter will be replaced with a catalogue of suggestions for family and friends. If you’re not already on the mailing list and would like to receive this, please let us know. To help carry things away, we’ve recently taken delivery of the Slightly Foxed book bag ‒ yours to buy for just £5 and use again and again (and not just for books!) We look forward to seeing you soon . . .
August 2010
Tony is back from holiday and is making up for lost time buying lots of ‘new’ secondhand stock including a charming run of pre-war children’s books. Meanwhile, we have been expanding the stock of new books and hope to have the perfect holiday read for you, whatever your destination.
June 2010
Last month we were able to take our pick from the libraries of Keith Waterhouse and a grandson of Somerset Maugham. The shop is heaving with new acquisitions on the second-hand side, and there are some very tempting new publications. If you’ve not already signed up to receive our monthly newsletter describing highlights for the month ahead, then please drop us an email. Perhaps now the May Bank Holidays are behind us, the fine weather will settle in and stay for the summer. Put your feet up with a cold glass of something and a good read!
Young romantics
Slightly Foxed contributer Daisy Hay launched her new book, Young Romantics, at Slightly Foxed on Gloucester Road.
In Young Romantics, Daisy Hay challenges the myth of the romantic poet as a solitary, introspective genius, telling the story of the communal existence of an astonishingly youthful circle which included Leigh Hunt, Shelley and his wife Mary, Mary’s step-sister Claire Clairmont, who became Byron’s lover and the mother of his child; and Hunt’s charismatic sister-in-law Elizabeth Kent.
Young Romantics explores the story of the group, from its inception in 1813 to its ultimate disintegration in the years following 1822. This smouldering combination of relationships would inspire the drama of Frankenstein, the heady idealism of Shelley’s poetry, and Byron’s own self-loathing, self-loving public persona. The characters are drawn with marvellous vitality, and the book is a fascinating read from a young biographer of great promise.
‘A most impressive achievement’ Michael Holroyd
April 2010
Now the refit is complete, we have the space to display the best of new publications as well as the continuing selection of high-quality second-hand books and we would like to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the books we have in the shop.
For the Love of an Orchard
We were pleased to launch Jane’s new book (co-authored with Chris Kelly) For the Love of an Orchard: Everybody’s Guide to Growing and Cooking Orchard Fruit (Hb £25). It covers all the practical aspects and also includes a wealth of historical and literary information about the fruits. You don’t even need a big garden; Jane and Chris assure us it is perfectly possible to grow a fruit tree in a pot on a balcony!
March 2010
The Spring issue of Slightly Foxed is out this month and there’s a spring in the steps of the shop staff as we get used to the improvements to the premises. We hope you’ll be able to pay us a visit very soon and see for yourself.
Among the highlights this month, we are looking forward to launching Jane’s new book (co-authored with Chris Kelly). The party will be on Tuesday, 30 March, and we’ll be offering glasses of perry to suit the subject matter. For the Love of an Orchard: Everybody’s Guide to Growing and Cooking Orchard Fruit is published at £25 and is available to order now.
Another reason for getting in touch is that we would like to send customers regular emails with news of recommended books. If you are interested in receiving this information, please let us know at enquiries@foxedbooks.com.
It's official . . .
The Gloucester Road Bookshop really is now Slightly Foxed on Gloucester Road and we’re delighted with its new look.
We hope you’ll be able to pay us a visit very soon and see for yourself but here’s a preview . . .
February 2010
The shop will be undergoing refurbishment this month and, for one week from 21 February to 1 March, will have to close. We’ve very excited at the prospect of these improvements and look forward to welcoming you when they are complete. Among other changes will be some marvellous displays of cards, wood-engravings and new books. Do remember that most new titles can be ordered for overnight delivery to the shop and collected in person if you live locally, or posted to you if you live further away.
January 2010
From The Book Collector (Winter 2009, volume 58, no.4)
[In September 2009 Nicholas Dennys sold his London business. He had opened his shop, near Gloucester Road tube station, in 1983, and it became a neighbourhood fixture, notable for its all-too-rare catalogues and, particularly, for its hospitably long hours of opening.]
The new buyer of the shop is Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly. The Gloucester Road Bookshop, now under the management of Tony Smith, formerly of Heywood Hill, will be rebranded under the magazine’s name (and as ‘The Real Reader’s Bookshop’) in Spring 2010. Slightly Foxed was launched in 2003 by Gail Pirkis, a publisher formerly with John Murray, and sells itself as ‘a rather unusual form of book review, informal and independent-minded’, and consisting of articles of ‘personal recommendation’ (by established writers, journalists, booksellers and publishers) that are not confined to titles on publishers’ current schedules. She forecasts that new titles will, similarly, only account for around 20 per cent of the bookshop stock – the rest being ‘really good’ second-hand books. ‘We are going back to the old-fashioned type of bookselling, with knowledgeable staff who know their stock,’ she told The Bookseller. ‘The indie bookseller is set for a return for various reasons: people value a knowledgeable bookseller, they like an individual shop which does not look the same as every other, and they are tired of the hard sell.’
This is a bold and imaginative venture. The winter issue of Slightly Foxed contains pieces on 84, Charing Cross Road. At 123 Gloucester Road, perhaps, a new Frank Doel will emerge at the desk.
December 2009
The fox is out of the bag. The Winter issue has reached subscribers and shops, and brings news to a wider audience that Slightly Foxed has now got its own bookshop. We look forward to welcoming you to Gloucester Road or, if that’s not convenient at the moment, please do get in touch by letter, phone or email. We are very happy to help with Christmas present suggestions, both old and new.
The shop has just taken delivery of its first wood engravings. These are supplied by the Society of Wood Engravers which is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of its re-launch this year. We are delighted to support living artists in this way and to act as a gallery for their extraordinary art.
We have also added Penguin tea towels to our stock and are particularly excited by the Great Penguin Bookchase which is a board game the company has produced to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the introduction of Penguin paperbacks. It’s hours of fun, beautifully designed and something of a snip at £29.95. Just the thing for family get-togethers this season . . .
We’re also having fun planning the shop’s New Year facelift and have been thrilled to hear nice things about both the shop and SF from the literary world.
Boyd Tonkin in the Independent
We wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Tony, Aimi, Jane & David
November 2009
We’ve been arranging appointments with carpet-fitters and awning-makers this month, and the builder is preparing his estimate for repairs and redecoration in the New Year. We’re also thinking of a nearer event and will be employing Jane and David’s skills in creating our Christmas window displays. As well as the two Christmas Foxes (see below),which make ideal stocking-fillers, we are introducing Gloucester Road to the delights of Lord Norwich’s Christmas Cracker (£6). This is a booklet he’s produced annually from his commonplace book since 1970. Meanwhile, large quantities of second-hand books continue to pour in and out of the shop, including a van load of 25 boxes and a library destined for China.
October 2009
The bookshop is looking very cheerful indeed and although it won’t be fully ‘foxed’ until the New Year it’s already looking more SF with some excellent new stock, a furniture shuffle and a charming new (old) shop bell. Do pop in if you’re in the area, you’ll be warmly received.
Slightly Foxed acquires a bookshop
Slightly Foxed at the Gloucester Road Bookshop
This month we’ve celebrated our sixth successful year by taking over
the Gloucester Road Bookshop at 123 Gloucester Road, South Kensington.
For several decades this second-hand bookshop – previously owned and run by Graham Greene’s nephew Nick Dennys and in a great position within a hundred yards or so of Gloucester Road tube station – has been a popular stopping-off point for booklovers. For Slightly Foxed, running this cosy and welcoming shop is a natural extension of what we already do – broadening people’s horizons by introducing them to interesting books that have stood the test of time, many of which are now out of print.