This is the time of year when we begin to get our Christmas offerings together which include new books, to complement our out of print stock.

The shop is heaving with  almost new books at the moment as we recently bought a library of pristine books on design art and illustration. There are books by Eric Ravilious, Paul and John Nash, Edward Bawden and their contemporaries and a table heaped with affordable books on design. There are also some very good photography books and titles on architecture in particular.

Additionally, on offer there advent calendars, Christmas cards and wrapping paper by our favourite artists.

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS

We will be open on   Wednesdays through to Saturday  from  10.00 am to 5.00 pm   until December 20nd and also open 22nd and 23rd December on an “open door” basis or at other times by appointment. Please call us if you are traveling any distance to visit us. Many same day appointments available. Telephone 0780 394 1307

The shop will be closed from 24rd December 2025 until 2nd January 2026

A lot of new books related to the  British art have been published in the last few months and we have selected a few for our shop. Firstly, there is Mark Hearld’s fabulous exposition on his work, with contributions by Alan Powers and others. This is Raucous Inventions. We have some signed copies available. Mark lives in York and we were luck enough to have a book signing at the shop last month. Then  we have the fabulous Thames and Hudson book on Hockney produced in association with his huge Paris show. Also there is a wonderful book on Liberty Desisgn. Published to mark Liberty’s 150th anniversary and written by Kassia St Clair it is absolutely georgeous. Of course when you visit our shop there are other books on all these artists and, more widely, art and design subjects. These wait  to be discovered in a large out of print art section. There are always new artist catalogues to discover that you might not have happened upon. Drop by if you are in York. We are open Wednesdays to Fridays and most other times by appointment if you call in advance.

Happy New Year.

We are spending some time in January planning the year ahead. Sadly, our trip to Pasadena, and the California Book Fair, has been cancelled; absolutely the right decision because of the fires in Los Angeles and Pasadena, where the book fair venue has been purposed to care for the displaced by the fires.

We will prepare a list of books we planned to exhibit in California and do contact us if you would like this. It should be out at the end of January.  It will be sent out to our regular mailing list. If you are not on this, please sign up.

In the shop, we are having a small sale of new books, till the end of January, all with 30% off the cover price. This is largely to make space for planned new arrivals on our shelves.

Please call and see us. January is a quiet month for all retailers so expect an especially warm welcome and possibly a cup of tea, if you arrive mid morning or afternoon.

Our shop has returned to its regular opening days Wednesday to Friday between 10.00am and 5.00pm after our longer Christmas seasonal hours. Please come along  and drop in. Outside these hours we are still open by appointment. The shop is bursting with lots of new items bought just before Christmas. Our winter period is always a busy one and we will be in California at the book fair in early February and will also be issuing some regular stock lists of books we have for sale. We also plan to continue our ventures in selling contemporary ceramics along side the books. These are curated by Lotte Inch.

Lotte Inch Gallery is returning this summer with an exciting pop-up exhibition at Janette Ray Rare Books. Showcasing a selected body of paintings, prints, ceramics and more, this collection of works has York and the North at its heart. Featuring local and prevalent artists (such as Mark Hearld and Tom Wood) alongside regional greats from recent decades (Marie Walker Last, David Lloyd Jones), this exhibition celebrates the wide array of creative talent hailing from the North.

Artists in the show include; Amy Dennis, Mark Hearld, Nicky Hirst, Kelly Jayne, David Lloyd-Jones, Marie Walker-Last, Robert H. Lee, Isabella Maclure, Geoff Morten, Malcolm Whittaker, Tom Wood and more…

A new range of Easter Cards arrived this week and will be on sale for those planning their Easter festivities. Please come and take a look. The shop is overflowing with recent purchases too ranging across all our visual art subjects from architecture to art. We exhibited at the York Ceramics Fair recently and still have some great titles we acquired for that very special event. We have a range of books on how to make ceramics as well as titles on the major figures in Ceramic design including Lucie Rie, Bernard Leach and their contemporaries. If you want to visit us outside our usual hours, please give us a call and we will make our best efforts to open up for you.

We are closed, except by appointment between Christmas and New Year but re-open on 4th January 2023. Hoping all of you are having a great break. If you have been given a diary for Christmas, note also that it is the York One Day Book Fair on 14th January, 2023. 10.30am-4.30pm at the Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse, York.

If you would like to visit us over the holiday period, please call us on 0780 394 1307

Today our advent calendars arrived, designed by Angela Harding and we will have them on sale in the next week. It is always a nudge for us to get going on ordering books we think you might all like for Christmas gifts for yourselves, friends and family. Do drop by if you are in York as the shop is beginning to fill up with tempting things.