The Second Shelf is an

independent bookshop An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with a focus on rare or rediscovered

women's literature The academic discipline of women's writing is a discrete area of literary studies which is based on the notion that the experience of women, historically, has been shaped by their sex, and so women writers by definition are a group worthy of separ ...

. It was founded in 2018 as a feminist bookshop. It also operates as an online bookshop. The name "The Second Shelf" comes from the title of

Meg Wolitzer Meg Wolitzer (born May 28, 1959) is an American novelist, known for '' The Wife'', ''The Ten-Year Nap'', ''The Uncoupling,'' ''The Interestings'', and ''The Female Persuasion.'' She works as an instructor in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southa ...

's 2012 essay in ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' about sexism towards

women's fiction Women's fiction is an umbrella term for women centered books that focus on women's life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels or women's rights books. It is distinct from women's writing, which refers ...

. It is a reference to ''

The Second Sex ''The Second Sex'' (french: Le Deuxième Sexe, link=no) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women in the present society as well as throughout all of history ...

'', a book by

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even th ...

Description

The bookshop specialises in rare, rediscovered, and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

books or

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

written by women. They also sell objects and

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

related to women's literature, as well as the

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

women's literature they view as undervalued. Many books in the shop are first editions, or signed books. Some few books sold are written by men, about women. Examples of authors featured by the shop include

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetr ...

, the Bröntes,

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

, and

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

. The Second Shelf is aligned with

intersectional feminism Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...

, "in its stock and perspective". As such, they take efforts to stock works by

underrepresented groups An underrepresented group describes a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population. Specific characteristics of an underrepresented group vary depending on the ...

: this includes "work by LGBTQ+ women, women from outside Europe and North America, and women of colour." Among their stock, they attempt to provide books that are affordable for people with a low budget. Describing the catalogue in 2019, the shop's founder stated: "The prices on rare books command a certain amount of seriousness, but we have books from £6 o£20,000 with everything in between. The £20,000 book is

's best friend's copy of ''

Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...

''. It's got her signature:

Martha Lloyd Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen, (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) was a Royal Navy officer and an elder brother of the novelist Jane Austen. As commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'', he captured some 40 ships, was ...

. We also have

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...

's skirt for sale." The shop publishes a magazine called ''The Second Shelf: Rare Books and Words by Women''.'''' The magazine was launched in spring 2018. It "showcases photographs of rare books, in addition to essays, poems, interviews, and profiles by women".'''' The shop's owner described it as a "fashion magazine for books to read in your tub." Some contributors to the magazine have included

Joanna Walsh Life Joanna Walsh is an author, editor and artist. She currently lives in Dublin. Works and Reviews Joanna Walsh is the author of: * Seed, a digital work. This work is featured in the British Library's Digital Storytelling Exhibit June 2, ...

, Lucy Scholes, and

Lauren Groff Lauren Groff (born July 23, 1978) is an American novelist and short story writer. She has written four novels and two short story collections, including '' Fates and Furies'' (2015), ''Florida'' (2018), and '' Matrix'' (2021). Early life and ed ...

History

A. N. Devers, the founder and owner of the shop, had previously worked at

Ruminator Books The ''Ruminator Review'', originally the ''Hungry Mind Review'', was a quarterly book review magazine founded by David Unowsky and published in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1986 to 2005. It included reviews of all genres, as well as literary intervie ...

. She first conceptualised The Second Shelf in 2014. In particular, she was inspired to create it when she felt there was special emphasis on men's literature among book fairs, sellers, and collectors. Devers commented, "I loved the books and was captivated by the trade, but sometimes I'd read a beautiful auction catalogue and there wouldn't be a single book by or about a woman ..So I had this whimsical idea that if I were a rare-book dealer, I would sell books by women." Devers moved to London from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2016. Prior to opening as a

brick-and-mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

location, the shop staff sold books at book fairs — The Second Shelf launched in 2017 as a

pop-up shop Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

with an accompanying online storefront. Though the shop was originally conceptualised as merely an

online shop Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

, Devers received a discounted leasing offer for physical shop space. The Second Shelf obtained some of its initial funding through a 2018

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign, which yielded about £32,000. The bookshop opened on November 20, 2018. Shortly after opening, the bookshop

went viral Viral phenomena or viral sensation are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the ter ...

online. The Second Shelf has since sold to museums and libraries seeking women's literature to diversify their collections. The shop was named "Indie Bookstore of the Month" by ''Damian Barr's Literary Salon'' for March 2020. Since its founding, the shop has initiated campaigns supportive of the transgender community: In 2020, they donated proceeds from sales of

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...

's books to

Mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

, a charity for

transgender youth Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, transgender yo ...

. A letter signed by over 1,500 individuals in the literary industry was published by The Second Shelf in September 2020, intended as "a message of love and solidarity for the trans and

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

community." In 2021, they ran a campaign to promote

transgender women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and som ...

writers. The shop was negatively impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. They shifted to a more online-focused business model for the time being, with the brick-and-mortar location used as "basically an online shipping and receiving area". As of October 2021, the shop was planning to relocate due in part to the lack of space.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Shelf, The Independent bookshops of the United Kingdom Feminist bookstores Bookstores established in the 21st century Online bookstores 2018 establishments in the United Kingdom

Description

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links