My father used to own a rambling provincial bookshop. He was once asked to direct a customer to some esoterica. Peering over his copy of The Spectator, he directed the punter to a far-flung corner of the first floor: ‘It’s the second alcove on the left under “Cranks”’.
Such frank sectioning is sadly lacking at Libreria, East London’s hippest new bookshop, where Cookery is earnestly marked ‘Home and Hearth’ and Art and Architecture is called ‘Ways of Seeing’. I’m not quite sure what is deposited under ‘Enchantment for the Disenchanted’. I didn’t dare look.
Libreria, for those not in the know, is the brainchild of trendy young entrepreneur Rohan Silva (a former special advisor to George Osborne) and his business partner Sam Aldenton. The launch party last Thursday night was fuelled by craft-gin cocktails and a sweary speech by Jeanette Winterson about Spitalfields Market.
The bookshelves are made from reclaimed plywood but it’s clear that no expense has been spared in the execution.
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