Fine Books in Palma, Mallorca

New look for the bookstore. | Jaume Morey

Andrew EdePalma26/10/2023 09:43
TW
0

It was a treasure trove for books but it was utterly chaotic. English Fine Books on C. Morei in Palma opened in 2008, Rodney Browne, a specialist in antique books, having started his business in Bournemouth more than forty years ago. When he moved to Mallorca, all the books came with him.

He retired last year, and his daughter, Sara Jane, put the shop and its contents up for sale. There are now new owners, who prefer to remain anonymous. Commenting on the chaotic nature of the bookstore, they say that when they took it on, "you couldn't even walk". Around 100,000 books were crammed into every available space.

Related news

The biggest sale of books in English starts Monday in "treasure trove" Palma shop

More related news

Order has now been created in the various rooms. The owners add that their intention is open in phases, the official reopening being next Thursday, November 2. Plans include a tea room with a chaise longue sofa and seats for reading as well as a painting workshop for children.

Seventy per cent of the books are in English. There are others in Spanish, Catalan, French, German and Scandinavian languages.

The new owners have found some real wonders - A first edition of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, a 1927 copy of Peter Pan and Wendy, a first edition of The Naive and Sentimental Lover signed by its author, John Le Carré, and The American Claimant by Mark Twain, published in 1892.