The Chaucer Head Bookshop
Encyclopedia
The Chaucer Head Bookshop is a general and second hand bookseller currently located in Stratford-upon-Avon
, Warwickshire, England. It was founded in 1830 in Birmingham
before moving to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960.
The shop is now located in a Grade II listed building at 21, Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, moving here in 1960. It was home to Julius Shaw, a friend of William Shakespeare best known for being a witness to the poet and dramatist's will. Over the centuries it has also housed the first infirmary in Stratford and at least two banks (visitors can see the extraordinarily thick door which presumably made up the first line of bank security).
In 1905 it became home to The Shakespeare Head Press, founded by Arthur Henry Bullen
after he had a dream in which he was presented with a copy of the works of Shakespeare "printed in the poet's home town".
Because of the Shakespeare connection a wealth of documentary evidence survives - for example the names and occupations of each tenant for the last 400 years can be traced.
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, Warwickshire, England. It was founded in 1830 in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
before moving to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960.
The Building
The shop was originally founded by John Cadby in 1830, and was then succeeded in March 1870 by a William Downing.The shop is now located in a Grade II listed building at 21, Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, moving here in 1960. It was home to Julius Shaw, a friend of William Shakespeare best known for being a witness to the poet and dramatist's will. Over the centuries it has also housed the first infirmary in Stratford and at least two banks (visitors can see the extraordinarily thick door which presumably made up the first line of bank security).
In 1905 it became home to The Shakespeare Head Press, founded by Arthur Henry Bullen
Arthur Henry Bullen
Arthur Henry Bullen, often known as A. H. Bullen, was an English editor and publisher, a specialist in 16th and 17th century literature, and founder of the Shakespeare Head Press, which for its first decades was a publisher of fine editions in the tradition of the Kelmscott Press.His father George...
after he had a dream in which he was presented with a copy of the works of Shakespeare "printed in the poet's home town".
Because of the Shakespeare connection a wealth of documentary evidence survives - for example the names and occupations of each tenant for the last 400 years can be traced.
External links
- The Chaucer Head Bookshophttp://www.chaucerhead.com/