Cover Story: the UK’s best independent art and design bookshops
There are few greater pleasures in life than walking through the doors of a bookshop, an occasion that’s been made all the more special since the rise of e-commerce and the ubiquity of mega retailers. Our soft spot, naturally, is for those selling art and design titles. In such places, the lovingly curated range of books and zines not only has the feel of a well-crafted wishlist, but it also serves the tastes and sensibilities of the neighbourhood and provides a platform for unheard voices and the offbeat.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a selection of some of the UK’s most interesting small-scale purveyors of art and design publications outside of London (find our favourites in the capital here). There are bookshops jimmied into galleries and buildings of architectural significance, and in converted farmsteads and on seafronts. Some promote globally renowned masters and others zone in on fledgling talents. Often they enrich their offerings with coveted curios or a rich roster of in-store events. But, most importantly, all have become a point of reference for their local creative community.
1. Fruitmarket, Edinburgh
Set across a pair of one-time market buildings, Fruitmarket is a gallery that spotlights a roster of acclaimed international artists, Louise Bourgeois and Tacita Dean among them. Following an afternoon’s potter around the warehouse-like space, head to the on-site shop to browse its cross-discipline range of reading material. “I endeavour to offer up a considered slice of the ever-shifting elements of contemporary culture,” says buying manager Allison Everet. Alongside Fruitmarket’s self-published titles – Flatlands takes a rare look at the two-dimensional work of David Batchelor; Damián Ortega’s clay oeuvre is chronicled in States of Time – there are literary essays, works by those from marginalised communities and titles that hone in on progressive politics. Look out for the Hellofrom Edinburgh travel guide, which is made from recycled paper coffee cups.
2. Burning House Books, Glasgow
With a focus on art, experimental writing, queer history and counterculture themes, Aimee Bea Ballinger’s Burning House Books champions stories from the fringes. Originally stocked with a small range of books that the owner had personally read, it has since expanded its bank of literature – the recently published Comic Velocity: HIV and AIDS in Comics, curated by Paul Sammut, featuring work by Howard Cruse, Marguerite Van Cook and David Wojnarowicz, is of particular note but the insightful service and limited square footage allows the Glasgow shop to retain its intimate, tightly curated quality.
3. Ripe, Glasgow
Taking her cues from Parisian flea markets, Linda McIntosh’s compact yet energetic venture is more newsstand than bricks-and-mortar destination, with its stand at the brilliant Barras Market in Glasgow. The experience is made all the more personable, thanks to Ripe’s gritty style and sharp edit of goods, some of which hang from the ceiling in transparent bags. While you’re there, pick up a signed copy of Collier Schorr’s August, a 20-year collection of Polaroids of youths the photographer shot during her annual visits to Schwäbisch Gmünd, in south Germany.
4. Newbridge Books, Newcastle
A major crux in the Newbridge Project, an artist-led community hub that’s also a studio and gallery, this bookshop entices a discerning crowd with its programme of poetry readings, book launches and reading circles. (There have also been violin performances and life-drawing classes in the past.) The cabinetry, either raw or stained green, exhibits difficult-to-procure books and also offers shelf space to artists who self-publish; Kate Liston’s Dasein and Casein zine, for instance, is filled with colourful abstract drawings of mnemonic symbols.
5. Village, Leeds
This bookshop and gallery space, with outposts in Leeds and Manchester, has garnered a loyal legion of fans and frequenters, partly due to its exciting event list. Village regularly hosts book signings and exhibitions, which typically feature the work of independent northern talent – previous displays have shone a light on artist Jim Brook, as well as photographers Sean O’Connell and Andy Cargill. The titles stocked at both stores include a covetable collection of coffee-table tomes on contemporary art, graphic design and architecture. But the best shelves, however, are those dedicated to rare Japanese photobooks and self-published zines on emerging creatives from around the world.
6. Unitom, Manchester
In 2021, Unitom plugged a literary void into Manchester that followed the closure of cult-hit Magma. Run by art advisory Universal Tomorrow, it has a spartan interior with a private-gallery look, thanks to its whitewashed scheme, lofty proportions and revolving display of large-scale canvases by the likes of Conor Harrington and Iain H. Williams, all for sale. At the front is a broad array of magazines, including the usual suspects (Monocle, Little White Lies, Kinfolk), local zines and bold, graphic-heavy imports from Japan, while to the rear are coffee-table staples by Taschen and Phaidon. With the city being the birthplace of the Madchester phenomenon, there is rave-themed and counter-culture literature difficult to source elsewhere, while design objects – Martino Gamper’s ‘Arnold Circus’ stool, and Twemco’s ‘QD-35’ calendar flip clocks are highlights – round out the offerings.
7. The Modernist, Manchester
This bookshop is the visual celebration of the Modernist Society, which was launched as a paean to both Manchester’s post-war architecture and the movement’s broader aims of improving society; today it carries out campaigns to save artworks and edifices across the area. While books on Walter Gropius and Ernö Goldfinger are always a solid place to start, connoisseurs might take a shine to the volumes on modernist graphics, typography, logos and transport design. Titles on Factory Records, as well as the in-house magazine, which is printed on GF Smith paper, should give you a taste of local flavour.
8. La Biblioteka, Sheffield
From its humble beginnings as a constantly moving market stall and pop-up, La Biblioteka has found a permanent home, rather curiously, in a food hall on the edge of Sheffiled’s city centre. Its lack of roof and open shelves do, however, allow the shop to keep the dynamic, ready-to-go feel of a roving bookstore. Run by Alex Maxwell, who previously taught architecture at the University of Sheffield, it’s popular with students at the nearby art school, who come to thumb through modern essentials (Design Anthology; The Gentlewoman; The Beauty of Everyday Things by Yanagi Sōetsu) and rarer finds (Racquet; Koel). The choice of thickset Kaweco fountain pens might even persuade you to get to the writer’s table.
9. Beam, Nottingham
Not too far from the heart of Nottingham lies the beautiful bookshop and exhibition space Beam. Housed within an artists’ studio complex, the light-filled space has a wonderfully industrial feel, with white-washed brick walls and concrete floors. Its edit of more than 350 titles – which span art, design, food and poetry – is equally appealing. Make a beeline for the artists’ books published in-house by Beam Editions, which include Materials Lab (on the research practice of Fernanda Fragateiro, highlighting the work of Eileen Grey and Donald Judd), and Hy-phen, Paintings – Drawings – Objects, on the abstract painter Derek Sprawson. If you’re not near Nottingham, don’t fret: Beam has been known to take its books on the road; in the past, it has popped up at Leila’s Shop in east London and at the Berlin-based book far Miss Read.
10. Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge
There might not be a better way to end a visit to the late curator Jim Ede’s home-turned-gallery in Cambridge than with a flick through the books at its shop. Just as one might expect from Kettle’s Yard, the small but considered selection of publications has been exquisitely curated. The shelves are stocked with coffee-table books with pretty painterly covers, and titles dedicated to the lives and work of British artists and potters, such as Bernard Leach, Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis, whose pieces can be spotted around the house and grounds. There’s also a delightful selection of prints, ceramics and textiles to take to home too.
Photography Beth Davis
11. Turner Contemporary, Margate
Once a waning coastline resort, Margate’s upsurge in popularity with the creative crowd owes much to the 2011 opening of David Chipperfield’s Turner Contemporary. The gallery’s shop, set in an open space at the entrance, features a healthy selection of books on JMW Turner and Tracey Emin – two of the town’s most famous artists-in-residence – as well as Antony Gormley, whose cast-iron sculpture stands in the nearby sea. Jewellery made in neighbouring town Broadstairs, and beauty products by Haeckels bolster the local links. Visit at sunset, when soft light ethereally floods through the glass walls.
12. Hauser & Wirth, Bruton
Housed in an 18th-century Bruton farmstead, restored by Luis Laplace and Benjamin + Beauchamp, the bookshop at Hauser & Wirth is a warm, homely experience without the sterility of other contemporary art destinations. The interior is all brick floor and wooden roof trusses, a fine backdrop for the gallery’s own monographs, exhibition catalogues and surveys, as well as an assortment of objects made by independent craftspeople; we were particularly drawn to the block-coloured Mary Heilmann blanket. After shopping, take a stroll in the Piet Oudolf-designed meadow, which features architect Smiljan Radić’s doughnut-shaped pavilion.
13. Magalleria, Bath
A strong literary history runs through Bath (Jane Austen and Mary Shelley once resided here, and Charles Dickens returned frequently) – and now the Somerset city is fast gaining a reputation as an incubator for artistic types too. Magalleria set its stall out in 2015 with the intention of ‘gallerising’ its products into elegant arrangements: displays include grooved timber shelves and Dieter Rams-style support units. The stock of 1,500 new releases and back issues caters to local artisans, art students, design agencies and architects, with highlights including Pressing Matters, a celebration of contemporary printmaking; Belgian design indie Akt; and Blumenhaus, which blurs the lines between vintage design, contemporary art and all things botanical.
14. Arnolfini Bookshop, Bristol
Spread across a 19th-century tea warehouse that overlooks the harbour, Bristol’s interdisciplinary arts centre has been welcoming hoards of big-hit creatives, from Paula Rego and Grayson Perry to Rachel Whiteread and Sonia Boyce, since 1961. Its bookshop is equally extensive and features a mixture of high-arts and fiction with children’s titles. Particularly strong is its photography section, where Charlotte Jansen’s exploration of the female gaze shares the same space as a how-to manual by Henry Carroll.
15. De La Warr Pavilion Shop, Bexhill-on-Sea
Built in 1935, Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff’s De La Warr Pavilion, a straightforward yet lyrical mix of horizontal strips and triple-stacked discs, was one of the UK’s earliest examples of modernist architecture. You might come here for the rotating programme of contemporary-art exhibitions, concerts and talks, but set aside some time to peruse its bookshop, where the selection of titles on British figureheads, including Alison Turnbull, Richard Forster and Bridget Riley, is small but superlative.
RELATED ON THE MODERN HOUSE
Our Guide to Oxford: cinnamon buns, honey-hued domes and small plates in the 'city of dreaming spires'
Our guide to Kentish Town: Technicolor townhouses, natural wine and nature in north London
Take a Dip: London’s best swimming spots – from lakes to lidos
Our Guide to Dulwich: from modernist architecture to master paintings
Plate in the Sun: London’s best restaurants for alfresco dining
Our guide to Herne Hill and Tulse Hill: vibrant markets and outdoor swimming in south London
Best Buds: the most beautiful garden centres in London
Good Start: the best breakfasts in London
Our guide to Camden Town and Primrose Hill: from panoramic views to a community ceramics space
Nice Slice: the best pizza in London