When sorting the used books that come into Crux, I often find bookmarks advertising bookshops — most of these bookshops are now closed sadly. I want to visit them, but cannot. Here are two I’d like to see.
James Thin of Edinburgh specialized in religion and theology and claimed one of the largest stocks of books in Britain. Oh to be able to browse in this shop! A little digging produces the fact that the flagship bookshop is now Blackwell’s, Edinburgh. Apparently Muriel Sparks wrote her novels on notebooks from Thin’s. Who knew that a bookmark would have so much interesting history behind it?
I can’t find as much information about Diversity Antiques and Collectibles, Inc. of Halifax, N.S., though it appears that Mr. McGee is no longer in business. I’ve never been to Halifax, but I’d like to go — there seem to be a lot of interesting second-hand bookshops in the area. Why else would you want to go to Halifax?