Foyles Bookshop, 119-125 Charing Cross Road, WC2. Opened here in 1906 by two brothers William and Gilbert Foyle (but traded elsewhere beforehand). Said to be the biggest bookshop in London - but a source of severe irritation to many owing to its organization! (Try Dillons on the corner of Malet Street and Torrington Place, WC1 later on the walk). Charing Cross Road has long been known for their booksellers and immortalized in the book by Helen Hanff 84 Charing Cross Road - based on her correspondence with Marks and Co (now demolished).
Independent and direct access to books has been of fundamental importance to the diffusion of knowledge and the development of thinking. With Willam Caxton’s introduction of the printing press to England in 1476 cheaper books became possible. (He set up his first press in a shop in the precincts of Westminster Abbey). As the technology developed, and costs reduced, evangelists such as John Wesley and Hannah More, and radicals such as William Lovett sought to promote the use of books. We see the emergence of those like Charles Knight (1791-1873) and his Society for the Diffusion of Popular Knowledge who developed new, popular, reading materials. However, it is with introduction of mass production that bookshops such as Foyles came into being. Of particular significance was the development of popular series on the basis of cheap reprints: Nelsons New Century Library (1900), World Classics (1901), Collins Pocket Classics (1903) and Dent;s Everyman’s Library (1906) (Steinberg 1961: 348-361). Such series included classic novels, works of antiquity and key philosphers and political thinkers. They allowed people to own, rather than borrow, texts. In the 1930s we see the introduction of 6d paperbacks (Penguins and Pelicans) which further enhanced access.
References
Steinberg, S. H. (1961) Five Hundred Years of Printing (rev. edn.), Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Note: This page is part of our virtual walk around the history of informal education (in central London).
Walking for real: If you would like to do the informal education walk for real then why not join us on our next scheduled walk. It's free! Follow the link for joining details.
© Mark K. Smith. First published August 7, 1997. Last update: April 25, 2008
