Literary London

Where the books were written, set, sold, printed and buried: from the Globe to the graves, the bookshops to the presses.

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Hatchards

London's oldest bookshop, trading on Piccadilly since 1797, with three royal warrants over the door.

BookshopsGo inside

Photo by Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Also in Shopping and Classic British Shops.

John Hatchard opened in 1797 and the shop moved to its present number in 1801; the Royal Horticultural Society was founded in its back room in 1804, Byron, Wilde, Kipling and Wellington shopped here, and it holds warrants from the King, the Queen and the Prince of Wales. Five floors around a winding staircase, staff who write their recommendations by hand and a room of signed first editions; it has belonged to Waterstones since 1990 but keeps its own name, its own buyers and its Georgian shopfront.

Where
187 Piccadilly, W1J 9LE
Nearest station
Piccadilly Circus · 4 min walk

Open daily

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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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