Paperback Versions

Whenever I am in London and have the time, a must for me is a visit to both the new and second hand bookshops along Charing Cross Road. How saddening it was on my last tour was to find that Shipley Books, specializing in art books, since1983 and Murder One, authority on crime and mystery books since 1988 have closed down. Both these premises are probably destined to become new cafe bar franchises.
There are still a few shops left, Book Ends and Any Amount of Books being two of my favoured locations for rummaging but they are fast being crowded out by the Borders, Blackwells and Foyles, whose shelves are stocking less and less hard backs in favour of the commonplace soft backed versions.
Of course it is of benefit for all of us to be able to be able to purchase the less expensive paperbacks and I recently read that in France, future book publications will only be this format. But what about us collectors; will our shelves soon crammed with soft backed publications, that once or twice read tend to fall apart in your hands?
Ninety percent of the books I possess are second hand and no less enjoyable for it – at times even more so – than that pristine Christmas or birthday present. Recently and for reasons best known to myself, I picked up a second hand, 1985 copy of The Great Thoughts, edited by George Seldes, from the cramped and dusty basement at Any Amount of Books. It cost me one pound, fifty pence.
In the book’s introduction, Mr Seldes mentions George Bernard Shaw, who was accustomed to going from book shop to book shop in the Charing Cross Road, picking up a shilling volume and reading a paragraph or a page before deciding whether to buy or not. All I can say is; what was good enough for GBS is good enough for me, so please support your nearest and dearest second hand book store before it is too late.