by Greg Mayer
On my visit to England earlier this year, one of my goals was to get a copy of Crick, Matthew’s award-winning biography of Francis Crick, co-proposer of the now well-known double helix structure for DNA. Like Jerry, I prefer the dust jacket of the British edition, and thought it would be fitting to get a copy of the British edition in Britain.
I first looked in the very extensive gift shop of the British Museum. It had many biographies, on a wide range of personages, but relatively few on scientists (or science books in general)– a clerk I queried kindly explained the shop’s offerings.
It did, however, have a fine selection of cat books.
My next try was at the Natural History Museum gift shop, which had a nice book section, but not nearly as large as that at the British Museum, and no Crick.
With the days of our stay running low, my wife and I did a half-day of shopping, and headed to Foyles, which had been recommended to us.
Checking Foyles’ website, the Charing Cross Road shop had copies. The store was a revelation– I have not seen a bookstore like this in the US for many years– I could have spent a lot of time there!
But we were on a quest, so we headed straight to the “Biography” section on the ground floor, but no Crick. A clerk explained to us that if it wasn’t there among the recent biographies, there was a large biography section upstairs. Upstairs, again, no luck. A clerk there, when queried, though, said right away to check the science section, pointing us towards it, and success!
I am not quite done reading it yet, but I have learned much and heartily recommend it. Although but a small part of the story, I was intrigued by Matthew’s account of how the order of authorship was determined for the 4 papers on DNA that Watson and Crick published in 1953-1954.
There were three other items on my list of things to find in London: first, Jerry’s favorite English beer, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord– done!
We got it at the Zetland Arms, not far from the Natural History Museum in South Kensington.
Then, an Everton scarf, which we tried for at Lillywhites, a big sporting goods store off Piccadilly Circus. When my wife said “blue and white scarf” to the clerk, he smiled and said “Chelsea, of course”, but when we explained it was Everton, he said it was 50-50 at best (they had maybe half the Premier League club scarfs), and Everton was among the missing. I thought we were out of luck, but we stopped at the Museum Superstore, a tourist trap souvenir shop two doors down from the British Museum, looking for some tea tins, but my wife emerged from the back of the store with an Everton scarf— qapla’!
I had also been hoping to get a book on British amphibians and reptiles more up to date than my copy of Nick Arnold’s book. There are a few such books, but, alas, neither Foyles nor the Natural History Museum had one. 🙁
Nice!
If that cover had the U.S. font…. that’d be my customized cover.
Nice trip. But it should have been easier to find Crick. Has science lost its luster? To me it gleams with a brightness unlike any other human endeavor.
I live near a small town in southern Scotland. It has had an independent bookshop for many years. I was there recently buying a book and Crick was prominently on display, within days of its publication.
Foyles on Charing Cross Road is a temple! I visit every time I’m in London.
Rumored to be the largest bookstore on earth. I don’t know if that’s true.
Foyles (which I used to visit occasionally) has long been challenged by Powells
enormous City of Books in Portland, OR. Counting both new and used books, the
Portland venue probably wins as largest bookstore on the planet.
Comment by Greg Mayer
I was at Powell’s Portland about 9 years ago: lots of books, many used, some real bargains, but hard to navigate, overstuffed, and so-so lighting. I’m not sure which has more books (both are several floors), but Foyles is an airy, well-lit space with the books well-displayed. Foyles’ books seemed to all be list price, so no great bargains, but a much more enjoyable shopping experience, like Borders and Barnes & Noble in the USA prior to their declines.
GCM
Greg, could you please describe the flavor of Landlord? I’m intrigued (and I’m a great lover of real English ales).
Comment by Greg Mayer
Jim– I had it twice, first in a bottle at the Leopard Bar, and then on tap at the Zetland Arms. I was a bit disappointed in the bottle (though at the time, glad to find it), but liked the draft more. It’s a pale ale, so more substance than most lagers, but not with a very strong flavor. I’d say it was a typical English session ale.
GCM
Thanks for the little London tour…pub, bookstore museum, Greg. Nice pics! I think it would fill 2-3 days for me. Foyles is like aU.S. Barnes and Noble but with books instead of crap.
Long and long ago, the flagship Barnes & Noble bookstore on 18th St. in Manhattan
was a good one. The degeneration began when B & N acquired Dalton in 1986, and
went on to become a national (or for all we know intergalactic) big boox chain.
Comment by Greg Mayer
Indeed!
GCM
You could try Blackwell’s. I believe they ship free worldwide, although not sure about US tariffs etc. https://blackwells.pxf.io/X4mdY3 (my affiliate link to their site).