It must be almost fifty years since I first bought a book at Galloway and Porters. But I’ve just bought my last book there as they are closing down at the end of the month, after trading for over a hundred years.
In recent years, G & P have largely sold remaindered books, or “damaged” books (in that odd sense beloved by university presses, used when the only damage is by a red stamp reading DAMAGED across the title page). But they have been a continuing source of unmissable bargains — for instance, I got Gödel’s correspondence there not so long ago.
The shelves are emptying, and some of the books are now forlornly jumbled together rather than segregated neatly by subject. So while looking for books that might be of interest, you can’t help but be more than usually aware of all those strange books lovingly written by academics in other disciplines — and reflect how equally odd and pointless your own efforts must seem to them. Very chastening.