East London Bookshop Review: The Book Stall, Spitalfields Market

The Book Stall, Old Spitalfields Market, E1 6EW

Where?

Amidst the tarnished ‘vintage’ jewellery and ubiquitous owl-patterned dresses of Spitalfields Market, one unassuming stall juxtaposes that hipster consumerism with a quiet, unpretentious erudition. Its prime spot at the edge of the market stops passers-by on their journey to the over-priced bric-a-brac, and rewards them with a wide array of classics, modern classics and esoteric books at very reasonable remainder-stock prices.

What?

Anything from Vintage imprint Woolf, Kafka or Faulkner to Oliver Sacks’s entire oeuvre, How to thrive in a digital age by Tom Chatfield or an intriguing volume of Graffiti Argentina. All books are around £3 - £4, and all are pretty much guaranteed to enhance your experience of the world.

Best on the shelves?

Forgotten editions of modern classics, particularly for authors whose collected works have since been standardised into series with consistent book jackets. The gleeful cat grasping the moon on the 2003 Vintage cover of The Master and Margarita; a slender arm and coy collar bones adorning the Faber Firsts edition of The Bell Jar; the arched curve of the diving boy on the 2009 edition of Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna. These aren’t as rare as lost or vintage editions, but are often usurped designs that have their own beauty and deserve still to be appreciated. And all for a bargain price – what’s not to love?

What’s missing?

The limitations of this book stall are the preconditions of its existence: not enough books and no new titles. But cool-as-cucumber Ezra, the stall owner, fills the small space with a discerning selection that maximises on quality. And any bookshop can sell the new, zeitgeist titles – this stall picks from the zeitgeists of years gone by the books that deserve to be remembered. Well worth a trip.