Recent articles
Charles Darwin: The Scientist and the Man
It goes without saying that On the Origin of Species is one of the most significant books in history and a desirable addition to many collectors’ libraries. Yet the emphasis on Charles Darwin’s...
Friends with Benefits
Virginia Woolf’s Orlando (1928) is one of the most memorable cases of the benefits of a muse in modern literature – dedicated to Vita Sackville-West, whose androgynous personality inspired the title...
Bookplates
One of the pleasures of cataloguing books is coming across bookplates. These are often interesting, delightful, sometimes infuriating, and occasionally alarming. They are a source of fascination and...
Nigel Bents
From his own design work crafting "epic ephemera" to twenty years' worth of memories at Peter Harrington, the head of our design team, Nigel Bents, has lots of stories to tell.Nigel, you are one of...
The Communist Manifesto
The year 1848 was famously a year of revolutions. In February that year, a new political party issued its manifesto. Its famous opening line claimed their nascent movement was a spectre haunting all...
“There’s always Pooh”: A. A. Milne, E. H. Shepard and Winnie-the-Pooh
Whether you like your Winnie-the-Pooh in the original A. A. Milne books or in a Walt Disney cartoon, or both, there’s no escaping the most famous teddy bear in the world. With the...
Enter The World of Jazz
A little over a hundred years ago they asked “What is jazz”? To which Louis Armstrong made the timeless reply, “If you have to ask, you’ll never know”. But a perhaps more troubling question
still is how do you collect jazz? Our experts have put togeher a remarkable gathering of 50 items which evoke the ephemeral moment and improvisatory spirit of jazz.
The Booksellers
Meet the people behind the books.
John Ryan
The latest in our The Booksellers series, cataloguer John Ryan shares his journey into the rare book world, a fascinating item, and his first catalogue at Peter Harrington; a project he is most...
Duncan McCoshan
Rare book Specialist Duncan McCoshan shares a few insights into his role as bibliographic detective at Peter Harrington. People tend to find their way to the trade in fairly varied ways. What was...
Emma Walshe
Cataloguer Emma Walshe shares her journey into the rare book world and some of the projects she's worked on at Peter Harrington. Interview by Winifred Hewitt-Wright I would love to know about how...
Pauline Schol
Ever wondered about what the day-to-day of being a rare bookseller entails? Pauline Schol shares insights on her journey into the rare book world and her experiences as manager of a bustling Mayfair...
Sammy Jay
Interview by Lauren Hepburn. How did you come to the rare book trade, and how have your responsibilities evolved in that time? My “origin story” is a bit crazy. About a decade ago, after tumbling...
Pablo Picó
Tell us a bit about what you do at Peter Harrington. As the Customer Services Manager, I look after email and website enquiries, as well as processing online sales, photography requests and...
BRINGING THE BOOKS TO YOU
Sign up to our newsletter
Be the first to know about new items on our shelves, and to hear about upcoming events and catalogues.