Browse at Hatchards, Britain's oldest bookshop

Established in 1797, Hatchards, at 187 Piccadilly, is the oldest bookshop in Britain, and is supposedly one of the most famous in the world. It was also the venue for the first meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804.


The shop was started in 1797 by John Hatchard, and was grated a royal warrant by George III. Since then, it has attracted a range of customers including Queen Charlotte, Benjamin Disraeli, the Duke of Wellington, William Gladstone, Cecil Rhodes, Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron. More recently, it has become a centre for book signings, attracting the likes of J.K Rowling, Margaret Thatcher, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Paxman, Joanne Harris and Sir David Attenborough. Signings and events are a special treat, and many authors have been known to do their only London signings here. A particular high point comes every year around Christmas when the Hatchards Christmas Customer Evening sees a number of authors attending for a mass signing.

The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9.30am until 7pm and on Sundays from noon until 6pm. For more information, visit http://www.hatchards.co.uk.

_{^Picture from Wikipedia under Wikimedia Commons. Information with special thanks to 'I Never Knew That About London' by Christopher Winn^}