A Bath based bookshop has opened in Fitzrovia after leaving London five years ago.
The shop on Scala Street made headlines when Pollock’s Toy Museum, the UK’s oldest toy museum, moved out in 2023 after being there since 1969, leaving the building empty, until Persephone Books reopened on Wednesday.
Persephone Books is an independent publisher that reprints unknown fiction and non-fiction, mostly by female writers dating from the mid-twentieth century.
Writer, historian and owner of Persephone Books, Francesca Beauman, said: “The heart of what we do at Persephone is about preserving heritage in terms of writers and texts.
“To be able to do that in the context of buildings is a fantastic opportunity and we feel grateful for it.
“It seemed too good an opportunity to turn it down. Fitzrovia suits us so brilliantly.”
The 49-year-old runs the bookshop alongside her mother, Nicola Beauman, 82, who founded the publisher in 1999.
The shop was previously on Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury from 2001 until 2021, when they relocated to Bath.
Fransesca added: “We are delighted to be expanding into London. The mothership is going to stay in Bath.
“But we’re really pleased that more people can have the full Persephone Books experience.”
They have put in a planning application to Camden Planning and Building Development for permissions to change the 18th century building.
But the unique history of the building is in good hands.
Beauman said: “I remember going to Pollock’s Toy Museum as a child on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
“To be able to preserve the building and maintain it for generations to come is a privilege.
“We are in discussions with the London Museum for them to have the original shop sign in an exhibition.”
Until approved, the Pollock’s Toy Museum exterior will remain, and Persephone Books reminds it’s community on Instagram that the shop will feel ‘a bit like a pop-up’ for now.
But the ad hoc nature of the opening did not deter the crowd that turned up to see their favourite bookshop return to the city.
Long-time Persephone Books fan Elena Frantini, 42, said: “I am super excited and so pleased they are in the area.
“The experience of reading these books is different – it’s sensorial.”
Persephone Books took to Instagram to thank readers from ‘near and far’ for coming to the opening.
155 titles are in stock at the shop. Persephone Books is now open from 10am–6pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 11am–5pm on Saturday.
Feature image credit: Martha Adams
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