Some Walks
Explore the picturesque streets of London’s neighbourhoods such as Marylebone, Mayfair, St James and Westminster and hear about extraordinary individuals who lived here and made London the literary, antique and book capital of the English speaking world.
Each walk starts and finishes near an underground station and lasts 1.5-2 hours.
You can come on one of the walks mentioned below, or Anthony will help you design your own Tailored Walk.
London has been the centre of book collecting for more than three centuries and this walk takes us back to the 1700's, to the front doors of some of the greatest bibliomaniacs of all time - George 2nd Earl Spencer; John 5th Duke of Roxburghe; Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford; George III and Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, to name just a few. Their stories and the stories of their libraries are extraordinary for their extravagance and scholarship. This walk will fascinate anyone who loves old books. And you will hear how Samuel Pepys set his wig alight and see the premises of the first sexologist!
The squares of Bloomsbury have been home to many writers, printers and publishers - not just the Bloomsbury Group! Come and meet some of them on a walk in London's most picturesque squares. This walk visits some of the places frequented by the lesser known bibliophiles, scholars and even printers in the area around Russell Square, and explores the history of this very special part of London. Hear about a book collector who cast out a demon, another who believed that Shakespeare's plays were written by Francis Bacon, a Lord Chancellor who was said to fall asleep in trials and a man who refused a knighthood twice. As well as seeing the first pedestrian shopping centre in London and the site of a famous printing press 100 years old this year.
Discover some of the famous literary connections with this fashionable part of London over the past 400 years. From Samuel Pepys's wig to Charles Dickens's beard, taking in Nell Gwyn's oranges and Oscar Wilde's cigarette on the way, we hear stories of bibliomaniacs, writers, booksellers and publishers and see some of the buildings they lived in and the places they knew.
- ‹‹
- 2 of 2