Old Town Traders
The Albion Bookshop
Des Wilson visits George Street’s chaotically compelling book emporium
Hastings must have more than its share of sadists because the best-selling book at the Albion Bookshop is called The History of Gibbeting – Britain’s Most Unusual Punishment. Graham George, the bookshop’s amiable 72-year-old owner, was having to re-order copies so frequently that he took one home and read it. He discovered that in the 18th and 19th centuries gibbeting was a form of execution with the criminal being left to hang until he died of exposure, thirst or starvation. The last gibbeting took place in 1832. Another popular book, presumably desired by the same sadists, is The life and times of George Chapman, from Hastings Barber to Ripper Suspect.
Is it unkind to call someone ‘eccentric’? I hope not, because that’s how I will describe Graham. But to be fair it’s actually the shop that’s eccentric: with its 100,000 books packed into every nook and cranny, some back-to-back from floor to ceiling on shelves in narrow passages, others in shambolic piles in every corner, hidden away in unopened boxes in a cellar and stockroom, on tables in the street, or on proud display in the window.
At school holiday time the shop is literally under siege from parents with children. Amid the many children’s books visitors may stumble across are scores of Enid Blyton’s, and Graham and I both recall becoming book readers as children thanks to her.
Another feature of the shop is a wall (and window) full of military books. Graham’s mother helped make Spitfires during the war and this has inspired him to build a rare collection of books on aviation and war. In fact, he has built up a national clientele for these books.
Graham came to Hastings from Southampton in 1994 and began with a unit in the courtyard of antique and secondhand shops in Courthouse Street. The Bulldogs shop next to the Albion pub in George Street became free in 2000; he moved there, and began to collect secondhand books from jumble sales and other secondhand bookshops. He then contacted publishers and started being sent remainders.
Graham says he keeps the shop open more as a hobby than a business – “I can’t think of not doing it” – but clearly it keeps the larder full because our chat was frequently interrupted by buyers. He says that many buy more than one book, and some armfuls – up to £300 worth. On our tour we stumble down rows of books, crime books, horror stories, art and poetry, science fiction, all selling from 50p to over £30 depending on condition, rarity and demand.
As we trip across another shambolic pile of books stacked in a corner, I say to him, “This is chaos.”
“Yes, it is,” Mr George of George Street amiably agrees.
Chaos it may be, but an Aladdin’s Cave for book lovers too.
Read about other traders in this series:
Hare and Hawthorn
Robert’s Rummage
The Cigar and Pipe Shop
The Hat Shop
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Absolutely love this place, there’s no rummage quite like it!