ABOUT JARNDYCE

Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers have been selling books published before 1920 for thirty five years, and in that time over 170 catalogues have been published. We are members of the ABA & PBFA.

The partners are Brian Lake and Janet Nassau, assisted by Helen Smith, Carol Murphy, Joshua Clayton & Edward Nassau Lake.

Our building in Great Russell Street, opposite the British Museum, was built in the 1730s and given a facelift by the Duke of Bedford in the 1850s. Randolph Caldecott, the 19thC illustrator, lived and worked here. It has been a bookshop for over a century and retains many period features. The ground floor has recently been renovated to recreate a 19thC bookshop within an 18thC building, incorporating panelling, a working fireplace and original wooden floor.

THE HISTORY OF 46 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

At the time of its constuction, it was on the edge of Central London; to the north there was little development. A map of 1755 shows ‘Southampton Fields’ surrounding Montagu House. No. 46, like its neighbours, was built as a private house and would have only come into use as a shop in the 19th century.

During 1825-1850, the new British Museum building was under construction and No. 46, along with its neighbours, was given a face-lift. The fronts were rebuilt and stuccoed to make them uniform and fitting neighbours for the new building opposite, but the interiors remained untouched, retaining the original panelling and other features.

Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) the illustrator, lived in rooms here 1872-79. He had a habit of illuminating his letters with sketches incorporating the address - often showing him in a state of ease with a bottle (or two) of wine. The Randolph Caldecott Medal is now awarded annually to the most distinguished American picture books for children.

No. 46 has been a bookshop since at least 1890, when the firm of Luzac & Co., founded in Holland by Jean Luzac in the early 18th Century, selling and publishing books about the Middle and Far East, moved to London. About 1900, the Bedford Estate sold the freehold. Luzac’s survived until 1986, when Jarndyce purchased the building - having started as antiquarian booksellers in 1969 with premises in James Street and Neal Street, Covent Garden. The property was in a run-down state following a period in the 1960s-70s when the whole area south of the British Museum was designated for demolition to create space for the proposed new British Library. This plan was abandoned in 1974.

A programme of renovation for No.46 began with the first floor, followed by re-roofing the back extension (coinciding with the renovation of the old milk depot to the rear as a studio for the painter Howard Hodgkin). The shop followed, with repair & replacement of panelling, shelving and the fireplace to recreate a 19thC bookshop in which to sell 18th and 19thC books. The final phase was renovation of the 2nd and 3rd floors; the 2nd floor retains all its panelling behind the books shelves.

No. 46 is reputed to be haunted; one sighting was of a Scotsman in a kilt, reading a book; others have felt a presence in the basement. If there is a supernatural presence, it is a benevolent one.

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Our major catalogues are devoted to

CHARLES DICKENS
THE ROMANTICS
BOOKS & PAMPHLETS OF THE 17TH & 18TH CENTURIES
WOMEN WRITERS
'THE MUSEUM': JARNDYCE MISCELLANY
PLAYS & THE THEATRE
LONDON BOOKS & MAPS
NINETEENTH CENTURY FICTION
ENGLISH LANGUAGE, CONDUCT & EDUCATION
ECONOMICS, POLITICS & SOCIAL HISTORY

Our books are in good or better condition wherever possible.

If you have books to sell, please consult our WANTS section on this website.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Please click on these pictures to see more detailed images of our shop.

We look forward to seeing you at 46, Great Russell Street in the near future.