There are eight bookshops in the old town of Cambridge, including the independent antiquarian shop called G. David Bookseller. (Kat Nickola)
It was the moody, dark look of The Haunted Bookshop in Cambridge that got me hooked. On a ghost tour with Terrible Tours (highly recommended), my group stood just beyond the overgrown shrubs and gravestones of St. Edwards’s churchyard listening to stories of mysterious spirits in the tiny bookstore.
I returned the next day to find a note in the window that read, “I am here. Please knock using the knocker. Only knock if you really want to be admitted. Knocking on the door and scuttling off is VERY BAD MANNERS. Give me a minute or so.”
I knocked and so began my tour of Cambridge Book Shops. There are eight in the old town, many of which are independent sellers and used book dealers. Each has their own energy and ambiance; from dusty and creepy to modern and fresh. Taking a day to visit them all is a fun way to experience the intellectual atmosphere of this university town.
In the order visited, from north to south:
Across from the famous Trinity College gate and Newton’s tree, this shop was founded in 1876 and run as an independent book and stationary store until 1999. It is now owned by a larger company, but retains an individual and local vibe, especially with its unique children’s wing down an alley at the back.
Heffers Bookshop is across from the Trinity College gate. (Kat Nickola)
Heffers bookstore in Cambridge has a unique children’s bookshop. (Kat Nickola)
The interior of Heffers has an open, modern new bookstore feel. (Kat Nickola)
A U.K. chain bookstore staple, the Waterstones in Cambridge is a big, modern shop with new books displayed across multiple floors.
Waterstones in Cambridge is a chain bookstore. ()
Waterstones sell new books of every variety and can order books unavailable on the shelves. ()
The Waterstones in Cambridge has a sales space spread across four floors. ()
Quite near the Waterstones, and in stark contrast, the Oxfam charity bookshop is small and stocked with gently used books of all kinds. I found a great old paperback on hidden sights to see in the region.
The author’s used book purchase from the Oxfam Bookstore in Cambridge. (Kat Nickola)
The Oxfam Bookshop in Cambridge is just down the road from the Waterstones, the daily market and the walls of Sidney Sussex College. (Kat Nickola)
In the Oxfam bookshop in Cambridge there is an nice selection of used books, including some textbooks and local travel volumes. (Kat Nickola)
The name says it all. With a unique selection of used books, it’s absolutely worthwhile to visit this stall at the Cambridge market which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. My finds included two gifts: a Jules Verne hardcover for my daughter and an early 1900s collection of Robert Burns’ poetry for my dad.
Books at the market book stall can include interesting older novels and poetry collections like those the author purchased. (Kat Nickola)
The book stall at the Cambridge market which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Kat Nickola)
The Cambridge daily market is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Kat Nickola)
This is the oldest publishing house in the world. Founded with its first press across the street in 1534, Cambridge University Press (CUP) primarily prints books for the academic community. The current shop location was an independent bookseller beginning in 1581 and was taken over by CUP in the 1990s. Though the store primarily sells academic books, it is worth a visit to see the nearly 500-year-old exposed wooden beam architecture.
The premises of Cambridge University Press Bookshop have been occupied by a bookseller since 1581. (Kat Nickola)
The interior of the Cambridge University Press Bookshop includes a glimpse at the old wooden ceiling beams. (Kat Nickola)
The CUP Bookshop occupies a corner across from the Senate House from which Cambridge students graduate and diagonally opposite scenic Kings College. (Kat Nickola)
My favorite shop of the bunch, this is where I (gently) dug through piles of antique books, prints and maps. With its musty smell and floor-to-ceiling shelves, and potential for finding a treasure, it took a lot of self-control for me to only leave with a few sketches from an 1800s travelogue.
The G. David Bookseller has many old prints and sketches like this one purchased by the author. (Kat Nickola)
The G. David Bookshop is tucked down St. Edwards Passage. (Kat Nickola)
Inside G. David Bookshop are antique volumes, second-hand books, charts and maps, and antiquarian prints. (Kat Nickola)
Tiny, and across the churchyard from G. David, this place is pleasantly tatty, and the two cramped floors are overflowing with precariously stacked primarily secondhand children’s and illustrated books. It had been a pub in the 1800s, so maybe the ghosts are looking for a drink.
Along St. Edwards Passage is The Haunted Bookshop. (Kat Nickola)
The front window of The Haunted Bookshop displays it’s specialty in juvenile and illustrated used books. (Kat Nickola)
The interior of The Haunted Bookshop is quite small, but very full of second-hand and antique books for sale across two floors. (Kat Nickola)
After the cave-like feel of the Cambridge passages, it was a reprieve to walk along the expansive main drag past photogenic spires at King’s College on the way down to this final shop. With a focus on crime fiction, this bookstore stocks both used and new volumes on shelves in tiny rooms and up creaky stairs. The shop also carries a sizeable selection of titles from Cambridge, so I left with a murder mystery novel set in a medieval version of Trinity College.
The murder mystery novel this author purchased at Bodies in the Bookshop is set in medieval Cambridge. (Kat Nickola)
Inside, Bodies in Bookshop has books in small rooms both up and down the set of stairs. (Kat Nickola)
Bodies in the Bookshop, Cambridge, is down a lane and surrounded by the scenic spires of various colleges. (Kat Nickola)
