Hatchards is an English bookshop claiming to be the oldest in London, founded on

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

in 1797 by John Hatchard. After one move, it has been at the same location on Piccadilly next to

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

since 1801, and the two stores are also neighbours in

St Pancras railway station St Pancras railway station (), officially known since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a major central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, F ...

as of 2014. It has a reputation for attracting high-profile authors and holds three royal warrants granted by King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

History

Claiming to be the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, Hatchards was founded at 173

, London, by John Hatchard in 1797. It moved within Piccadilly in 1801, to No.189–190; the site of the first shop was cleared in 1810 for the

Egyptian Hall The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson. The Hall was a considerable success, with exhibitions of artwork and of Napoleonic era re ...

to be built. The second shop had a numbering change to 187, in 1820. It still trades today from the same address, and Hatchard's portrait can be seen on the staircase of the shop. It was founded with a collection of merchandise bought from Simon Vandenbergh, a bookseller of the 18th century. In 1939 Hatchards was acquired for £6,000 by convicted fraudster

Clarence Hatry Clarence Charles Hatry (16 December 1888 – 10 June 1965) was an English company promoter, financier, bankrupt, bookseller and publisher. The fall of the Hatry group in September 1929, which had been worth about £24 million (), is cited as a c ...

, on his release from prison. He turned the ailing business around, and in 1946 he also acquired the T. Werner Laurie Ltd. publishing firm. Hatchards was acquired by

William Collins, Sons William Collins, Sons & Co., often referred to as Collins, was a Scotland, Scottish printing and publishing company founded by a Presbyterianism, Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins (publisher), William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in par ...

in 1956. In the 1980s it expanded the number of its retail outlets, opening branches across the UK. It was bought by

Pentos Pentos plc was a British holding company that operated between 1972 and 1995 and was best known for its ownership of the Dillons, Wilding Office Equipment, Ryman and Athena retail brands. Pentos was established from a shell company by Terry M ...

in 1990, and Pentos was later acquired by

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

who rebranded all but the flagship store. Waterstones also owns

Hodges Figgis Hodges Figgis is a long-operating bookshop in central Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1768, it is probably the third-oldest functioning bookshop in the world, after the Livraria Bertrand of Lisbon (1732) and Pennsylvania's Moravian Book Shop (174 ...

(founded in 1768), which is the oldest bookshop in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Operations

It has a reputation for attracting high-profile authors and holds three royal warrants.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's favourite bookshop, the writer signed his books sitting at the ground floor main table—today known as Oscar's table. Hatchards opened a new store in

in 2014. The store, opened at the beginning of August, and was located next door to a new (2013) branch of

Fortnum and Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

, continuing a relationship that goes back over two centuries. In August 2019 this location re-opened in a larger space within the station. A third store was opened in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in September 2022.

Gallery

File:Hatchards St Pancras.jpg, Hatchards at St Pancras railway station File:London Piccadilly.jpg, Hatchards Piccadilly next to Fortnum and Mason File:Hatchards, London, 2013.jpg, Hatchards Piccadilly File:Hatchards 20130408 093.jpg, Hatchards Royal Warrant

References

External links

* {{Coord, 51.5084, -0.1380, display=title Bookshops in London Retail companies established in 1797 Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster British royal warrant holders Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures on Piccadilly Companies based in the City of Westminster British companies established in 1797 Bookstores established in the 18th century

History

Operations

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links