Bookshops in Bath That Will Steal Your Heart
Last Updated on 1st August 2025 by Sophie Nadeau
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There’s nothing more cosy and comforting than the musty smell of books and the vision of shelves crammed with different worlds to whisk you away for a while. Luckily for those visiting Bath, there are several wonderful bookshops to peruse while exploring the stunning Roman city. Here’s your guide to the best of Bath’s bookshops!
Contents
Best bookshops in Bath
Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath
York St, Bath BA1 1NG
Toppings & Company Booksellers is the formal name for the family business started by Robert and Louise Topping, and they first opened their doors in Cambridge in 2002. As of now, the business has expanded to Bath (2021), St Andrews, and most recently Edinburgh.
The various bookshops are renowned for housing rare and valuable editions, including signed copies and out-of-print books, many of which are available for purchase and on display. For keen bookworms, it’s worth noting that you can often acquire some books which have been autographed by the authors themselves!
Additionally, Toppings frequently organises events throughout the year, inviting writers for discussions and gatherings, providing avid readers with the opportunity to meet the individuals behind the pages they fell in love with.
Want to learn more about Edinburgh’s Topping & Company Bookstore?
Persephone Books
8, Edgar Buildings, Bath BA1 2EE
Persephone’s is both an independent publisher and bookshop in Bath which focuses largely on works and reprints by women writers from the late 19th and 20th centuries (though you’ll find some works by male authors here, too).
An iconic establishment of the writing scene, Persephone Books was founded by Nicola Beauman in 1999. The company takes its name from the Greek mythological figure who symbolises the Goddess of Spring and nature, fertilising the earth through wisdom and growth.
Persephone Books originally started in a basement in London and moved entirely to Bath in 2021. Although Persephone Books makes most of its sales online, the small shop is a delight to visit and peruse in person!
What you’ll quickly notice upon visiting this bookshop is that all the books are grey. The idea behind this is, as mentioned on their website:
“We had a vision of a woman who comes home tired from work, and there is a book waiting for her, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like because she knows she will enjoy it.”
The bookshop also hosts small informal events throughout the year. You can see the upcoming events via their official website here.
Bath Old Books
9C Margaret’s Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP
Specialising in secondhand and antiquarian books, particularly with a focus on books all about Bath, this bookshop is a cosy corner-side treasure situated in the heart of the city. Stacked from floor to ceiling with musty old titles, this is the place where you can delve deep into the pages of the past.
Mr B’s Emporium Bookshop
14-15 John St, Bath BA1 2JL
Easily regarded as Bath’s most famous bookshop, this quirky independent gem is teeming with character and boasts quite the interesting backstory of how it came to be one of the city’s best bookselling spots!
Inspired by a bookshop in Seattle while on holiday in 2004, two lawyers quit their jobs and decided to open up a place of their own. By 2006, Nic and Juliette’s dream (and the tireless work behind it) turned into a reality and they opened their doors for the first time. The shop, stacked with books hand picked out by the couple, was set within an old antique’s showroom on John Street.
Skip forward to 2008, Mr B’s was named Independent Bookshop of the Year for the UK & Ireland! Indeed, the shop proved so popular it had the opportunity to expand onto a third floor and recruit an even bigger team.
A passion project made with love, Mr B’s Emporium is a quirky and innovative space where book lovers are encouraged to read, chat and enjoy the wonderful and ever-growing forest of books that resides here.
Magalleria
5 Upper Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1RG
Magalleria is essentially the ultimate gallery for magazines, from fine, independent and specialist prints for which to browse. More recently, the shop has started to sell an increasing number of books too!
First established in 2015, this magazine hoard collects and imports copies from all corners of the world and is home to some 1,500 titles, offering even more to peruse through their online store.
Oxfam Bookshop
4, 5 Lower Borough Walls, Bath BA1 1QR
This charity shop sells secondhand books, sheet music, as well as CDs and DVDs (for those who still have some kind of technology that still plays disks!) Reliant completely on donations, you never know what kind of works you might happen across on a visit to Oxfam Bookshop.
Dorothy House Broad Street Shop
37 Broad St, Bath BA1 5LP
This charity bookshop also relies on donations and is filled with all the loved books and pages that have been donated by the locals. As such, here you can discover what the people of Bath have been reading and enjoy the selection on offer at Dorothy’s.
George Bayntun
23 Manvers St, Bath BA1 1JW
This world-famous bookshop is filled with musty and rare titles and is also home to the Bayntun-Riviere bindery, which dates back to 1829.
The bookshop specialises in binding fine and rare books, and for sale, there’s anything from antiquarian to new, as well as illustrated editions, all with a focus on English literature. One thing’s for certain, all the books here are brilliantly bound!
Psst! want to spend a weekend in Bath?
Bath is a stunning and small city which is easily explored over a long weekend. Learn more about this buttery stone dream destination with plenty of Roman histroy and quaint cobbled streets to explore, and where the coffee shops are abundant!
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