Rarities speak volumes about city’s literary heritage
Just beyond the White Horse pub on Bootham stands a small, striking blue shop. This is Janette Ray Bookseller, which has sourced and sold rare and out-of-print books since 1995. Drop by and you won’t leave in a hurry. Specialising in books on architecture, design, gardens, art, and photography, Janette Ray’s shelves and tables heave with volumes that simply must be picked up and read (except for the real rarities of course; you’ll have to ask to see these, and have a cheerfully muscular bank account to buy them).
The building alone is worth the visit as it backs directly onto the city walls, and Janette herself is a walking library, with an amazing knowledge of books and authors. Little wonder that museums, archives, and libraries from across the country regularly consult her. She is also one of the key organisers of the York Book Fair, the largest of its kind in Britain, held at the racecourse every September.
Info
Address 8 Bootham, York YO30 7BL, +44 01904 623088, www.janetteray.co.uk, books@janetteray.co.uk | Public Transport 1-minute walk from Bootham Row car park. Closest bus stop: Exhibition Square | Hours Wed–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm| Tip For more cultural stimulation, pop into the Lotte Inch Gallery next door. It’s run by Janette’s daughter.
Whatever time of year they arrive in York, bibliophiles feel as if they have died and gone to heaven. As well as a lovely Waterstones and the independent Little Apple Bookshop, selling the best in new titles, there are brilliant second-hand stores dotted about the city. Among them is the Minster Gate Bookshop, next door to the great cathedral, which fills five floors of a narrow townhouse with old volumes. Lucius Books, on Fossgate, specialises in modern first editions, literature, children’s books, and crime and detective fiction. One of the oldest book retailers is Ken Spelman, which opened in 1948 and occupies an elegant Micklegate building. And the latest addition is the Grimoire Bookshop on High Petergate, which sells all sorts, with a science fiction and fantasy room on the first floor.
All these remarkable shops make York, in the words of Janette Ray herself, “like a book department store divided up into different sections.” Happy reading.
Back
To the online map