40% off Books - Flash Sale

For Thursday 12th November only we're having a 40% sale. See below for your discount code and further details and then browse our site.

Use the code 2015nov40 at the checkout for a 40% discount on our book prices on Thursday 12th November only. There is no minimum purchase and no limit to how often you can use the code on the day so browse our site and enjoy!

Please feel free to pass the discount code onto friends or to your students.

Pictured is The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work by Germaine Greer.

Book catalogues you might enjoy:

Authors A-Z
Fiction
English local history by county
Children's Literature
Poetry and Criticism
Novels and Criticism
Classics
Language Studies
History
Philosophy
Movements and Themes in Literature
French Literature

The small print: valid until midnight on Thursday 12th November. Postage is extra. Because of the sizeable discount we cannot subsidize postage so large orders from outside the UK might require increased shipping costs. We will contact you to explain if there are any additional costs once your order has gone through, or you can email us before placing an order. You will be able to cancel the order if you're unhappy with the extra shipping.

Bulgakov's Master and Margarita

"Mikhail Bulgakov's current reputation as a major 20th-century European writer is posthumous.  The story of Bulgakov's reception illustrates the tragedy of Russian culture in the post-revolutionary period." (Cornwell, 1998).   His last great and most celebrated novel "The Master and Margarita" was started in 1928, going through many variants and revisions, and was still not prepared for publication by the time of Bulgakov's death in 1940 (he burned the first manuscript in despair in 1930).  This, combined with the fact that early official editions in the Soviet Union were highly censored, meant that it was some time before a definitive version of the text could be established...

Read more on Marijana Dworski's blog.

York Book Fair 2015

The amazing experience that is the York Book Fair is due to open at 12 noon tomorrow (Friday 18th September). There are three floors of stands: over 200 booksellers and thousands and thousands of rare, unusual, collectable and just plain readable books. Not to be missed!

You can download a free ticket here: admission is otherwise £2 on the door. The fair is open 12-7pm on Friday and 10-5pm on Saturday at the Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse, YO23 1EX. There is a free shuttle bus from outside York railway station. There is some parking available at/near the racecourse. There is a cafe and a bar at the venue.

Three Ibooknet members are exhibiting and I caught some pictures of their stands as they were busy setting up today:

Heather and Jeff of Peakirk Books are on the mezzanine floor and already their beautiful children's books catch the eye.

Stephen Foster on the ground floor has an eclectic range of books and also a large bowl of humbugs on his stand so if your blood sugar is flagging as you browse all those stalls you know who to visit!

And my own stock (literary criticism, literary biographies, fiction, poetry and philosophy mainly) is safely shelved on the first floor:

We hope to see you there!

NORFOLK SUMMER FAIR

If you're anywhere near the Norfolk Summer Fair, a high quality PBFA bookfair, is on this coming weekend, Saturday June 13th. The fair is run by Ibooknet members Heather and Jeff from Peakirk Books.

Venue: The Orangery Building, Blickling Hall, Aylsham NR11 6NF

This is the second year that the Norfolk Summer Fair will be held in the beautiful setting of the National Trust Blickling Hall Estate. This magnificent Stately Home is the birthplace of Anne Boleyn and is therefore steeped in historical interest. The fair will be held in the magnificent Orangery Building, set within the Estate Grounds which will hold twenty six Independent Book Dealers from around the UK with various specialisms, including children’s & illustrated, crime fiction, modern first editions, antiquarian, natural history and Norfolk history & topography, to name but a few.

There is also the well-stocked on-site National Trust Charity Book Shop and a wealth of activities for the whole family to enjoy during your visit. This includes a Café & Restaurant, Gift Shop, Museum, Garden & Plant Sales, Landscaped Gardens, Woodland Walks, Cycle Hire, Children’s Play Area and much more.

So if you're looking for something to do in Norfolk this weekend why not download a free bookfair ticket here and drop in.

A Booke of Christian Prayers - Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book 1578

Joane Wrayford and her copy of A Booke of Christian Prayers

[collected out of the auncie[n]t writers, and best learned in our tyme, worthy to be read with an earnest mynde of all Christians, in these daungerous and troublesome dayes, that God for Christes sake will yet still be mercyfull vnto vs]

“ … a most splendid example of ornamental printing which this country has ever produced …”  (T F Dibdin)

John Day (1522-1584) the most skilled and innovative printer of his day was recognised for his exceptionally high quality work. He specialised in printing and distributing Protestant literature and small-format religious books and is best known for publishing Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.  In 1569 he produced, reputedly exclusively for Queen Elizabeth, Christian Prayers and Meditations. Only one complete copy is known to be extant. This prayer book (both the 1569 and the 1578 version) is notable for a number of reasons one being the depiction of the protestant Queen Elizabeth at the front of the book.

But, perhaps the outstanding reason for the book’s continued prominence is the plethora of fine ornamental printing; the splendid full-page woodcut of Elizabeth kneeling before a prie-dieu to the verso of the title page, the title itself surrounded by a broad woodcut border showing the Tree of Jesse and each page of prayers elaborately decorated with woodcut borders in historiated ornamental blocks. Read the rest of this post on Marijana's blog...

Stephen Foster Books News

An Announcement by Stephen Foster

The Bell Street shop is now closed as an open shop for the foreseeable future; a difficult decision after more than 25 years. We still have the shop, but are currently using it as a base for our film and furnishing work.

All enquiries should be directed to the shop in Chiswick, which now also houses our internet stock, and the office. As a result of this change, we have extended the hours in Chiswick. It is open Monday to Saturday 10.30 to 17.30, and Sunday from 11.00 to 17.00, except Easter and Christmas.

There is also a new email address covering all aspects of the business stephen[at]fosterbooks.co.uk

Thank you.

Harrogate Book Fair

Another weekend, another lovely book fair. This time Ibooknet members Catherine (left) and Heather were both at the PBFA's Harrogate book fair. You can see us below in front of Heather and Jeff's stand full of gorgeous children's books.

Next weekend, on  21st March PBFA's Illustrated, Children's and Modern First Edition fair is on in London. Peakirk Books will be there again, and Stephen Foster will also have a stand there alongside many other dealers from all over the country, and beyond.

Below, a close up of stock from CL Hawley Books at the Harrogate Fair. With so many towns now without a good secondhand bookshop a fair, where the books come to you, is a great place to handle books and remember that book browsing is so much better offline.

Adventures at the York Bookfair

Rob and I have just returned from the PBFA York Book Fair. This January fair is the smaller of the two fairs that the PBFA run in York. This one had a mere 120 or so dealers offering around 400,000 books. We've been to this fair before but only as customers, this time we were exhibiting our own stock at stall number 61.

It was hard work, as we knew it would be, but we benefited from lots of advice before hand from the lovely Heather and Jeff at Peakirk Books as well as from the fair organisers. It was lovely to meet lots of new customers as well as the other dealers. It was also lovely to meet one other book blogger...

Read more from Catherine at her Juxtabook blog.