Gladstone Books has recently moved from an antiques centre in Newark to the small Nottinghamshire cathedral town of Southwell, where it is run from a private address. Bona fide browsers are able to view the book stock, at leisure, in a comfortable book room near the town centre, providing an appointment has been made in advance of the prospective visit. Visiting hours, for a maximum of two people, can be arranged for any day of the week, during daylight hours.

The books and their owner

About 2,500 good quality books are on display (with others in stock), with significant selections of history, poetry, essays, biographies, local and natural history, philosophy, science, technology, sociology, politics, classical fiction, reference and Folio books. Most books are hardback. Prices are quite modest, as I regard this to be more of a service than a business: but it can only be maintained if outgoings are covered. In the words of the maxim: use it or lose it.

As a retired university professor, I have spent a lifetime which has been much involved with books - as author, editor, reviewer, collector and latterly, for about twenty years, book dealer. From 2015 to 2017, Gladstone Books occupied a shop premises in Southwell, where it received several unsolicited recommendations - for examples of which click button A. Changing circumstances have now resulted in a return to Southwell, albeit not now at a shop premises.

The New Gladstone Review

The current issue of this e-journal, which is published approximately quarterly, is freely accessible by clicking button B. Previous issues can be viewed by clicking button C, and an archive of a selection from earlier publications by clicking button D.