Book shops have been helped by the Covid pandemic, when local bookshops went above and beyond to get literary distractions to their locked-down customers. Suddenly as a nation we've realised how much we need all sorts of local suppliers and a vibrant community of small companies who really care about their customers. Plus Oxford has an enormous population of bookwormy students and strong literary credentials, so the industry is more resilient here. But don't let us get complacent! Why not pop into one of our county's fine booksellers (virtually or in person) today?

For online book shopping we have two favourites. One is Bookshop.org, a badly-named brilliant venture which aims to make online book ordering easy but distribute the profits to indy bookstores across the country. You can even nominate your local shop as beneficiary. And for old or out of print titles, try World of Books. We prefer them to Abebooks which is owned by Amazon, partly because they source unsold inventory from charity shops and other sources due to be pulped. You are saving that rare old book from destruction!

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Where to Buy

Here are some other specialist or further afield options:

Blackwell's Secondhand / Rare Books, 48-51 Broad Street. Map
Second hand: 01865 333633 [email protected]
Rare: 01865 333555 [email protected]
Mon-Sat, 9.00am-6.00pm, Tue 9.30am-6.00pm, Sun 11.00am-5.00pm. English literature, history, archaeology, politics, economics, law, science, technology, medicine, travel, Greek & Roman literature, European literature, oriental, theology, philosophy, antiquarian literature, modern first editions, private presses, illustrated books, juvenilia, bibliography, sets, Oxford books. Book tokens accepted. Catalogues issued regularly. M: ABA, PBFA.

Books on High, at Antiques on High, 85 High Street. Map
Tel: 01865 251075 [email protected]
Mon-Sat 10.00am-5.00pm, Sun 11.00am-5.00pm. Art, juvenilia, travel, literature, history, modern firsts, illustrated books. For rare, antiquarian and secondhand music, come in on Thursdays (10.00am-5.00pm) to see Austin Sherlaw-Johnson (Tel: 01993 898223).

The Classics Bookshop, 4 Church Street, Cleobury Mortimer, Kidderminster DY14 8BS. Map.
Tel: 01299 271559 / 07816 238141 [email protected]
Formerly of Oxford, then of Burford, and now of a midlands market town that's closer to Wales than Oxford. Still worth a mention for their mail-order service. Extensive collection of Latin & Greek language and literature, archaeology, ancient history. Ancient near east. Books on Oxford. Large section of prints and maps of Oxford. Mounting and framing service. Catalogues issued. M: PBFA.

Also watch out for the annual PBFA book fair, usually held in April in Oxford, which is a Mecca for rare, vintage, unusual and bizarre books, maps and printed ephemera.