A Visit to South Bank Bookstalls, London

South Bank Bookstalls, London

Situated along the Southbank, under the Waterloo Bridge, which provides protection from the weather, the Southbank Book Stalls are a unique place to buy second hand books. Set out in several long tables, filled from end to end with books, there are several stalls, owned and run by different people.

With such a large array of books, which aren’t ordered or organised in any particular way, the best way to browse them (in my opinion) is to walk methodically up and down each side of each table.

Starting at the first table and looking for a particular book (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin), my eyes ran down the spines of the books in search of the title. By Table two, we had found it, hurray!

Having found the book I was looking for, we continued our browse of the large selection of books.

New, old and even some first edition books, which were wrapped in paper bags for their protection. My mother picked up a first edition of the penguin classic, Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse.

On the last table I found a Father’s Day present for my dad, a Thelwell Ponies book filled with the cartoon drawings which I know he loves.

Finishing our perusal of the books, we paid for the books, making sure we paid for them at the right stall, which match letters written just inside the books, along with the price (don’t worry they’re done in pencil so they don’t ruin the books).

With such a great collection of books, the Book Stalls is somewhere I would definitely visit again, the next time I’m down on the Southbank.

~ Catherine Muxworthy, Booksbird Blog

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