Classic British Shops

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Sotheran's

Antiquarian booksellers since 1761, now in Cecil Court with the rare material round the corner.

Books & paperTrading before 1900

Sotheran's own advertisement for its Piccadilly shop, opened in 1872. Photo by Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The firm began in York in 1761 and came to London in 1815; it sold Dickens's library after his death and handled Churchill's. It left Sackville Street, where it had been since 1936, in 2024, and since the summer of 2025 has traded from two doors a minute apart: 8 Cecil Court is the shop to browse, and the first floor at 22 Charing Cross Road holds the fine and rare material.

Prints are the other half of the business - natural history plates, maps and architectural engravings by the drawerful, at prices that start low.

Where
8 Cecil Court, WC2N 4HE
Nearest station
Leicester Square · 1 min walk

Hours

Monday10:00 – 18:00
Tuesday10:00 – 18:00
Wednesday10:00 – 18:00
Thursday10:00 – 18:00
Friday10:00 – 18:00
Saturday11:00 – 17:00
SundayClosed

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 11 September 2026.

Saturday is Cecil Court only; Charing Cross Road is weekdays.

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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