Thursday, October 7, 2010

Farewell, Thornton's of Oxford

Thornton's (its site history) is no longer a  brick-and-mortar bookshop since January 1, 2003. It has disappeared into the cybersphere (cyberia?). The building at 11, Broad Street now houses a cafe.

When I was last at Oxford in November 2001, Thornton's, a classic English secondhand and antiquarian bookshop in operation since 1835, was still thriving, apparently.  I had not then realized that it had faced bankruptcy, and been sold by the Thornton family in 1983.

Thornton has nourished me intellectually, and exercised a decisive influence on my intellectual life. It deserves to be remembered with affection and gratitude.

No comments: