Daunt Books
AS ITS NAME IMPLIES, Marylebone High Street has a local flavour it’s somehow managed to retain (if only just) in the face of rocketing rents and relentless homogenisation. For me, there’s a whiff of perpetual holiday about it, or, at the very least, a suggestion of leisurely mornings spent pottering and browsing. That’s due in no small part to the presence of Daunt: not the biggest bookshop in London (that’s Waterstones on Piccadilly), nor the grandest (Heywood Hill), but certainly the most picturesque.
This, the mothership of a city-wide chain, is akin to a cathedral for book lovers, replete with a double-height nave terminating in an enormous and elaborate window. To a remarkable extent, an Edwardian ambience has been preserved, right the way down to the antique light fittings and dignified woodwork. Yet, miraculously but delightfully, the atmosphere is the opposite of sepulchral, thanks to the warmth and enthusiasm of Daunt’s team of youthful employees, as well as an affluent metropolitan clientele among which families with small children figure prominently.
In these days in which brides and grooms have almost everything they require in the way of flatware and appliances before they tie the knot, Daunt offers a comprehensive wedding list service. In addition, it assists private and commercial clients with ‘library building’, delivery and shelving included.
See also: John Sandoe Books
