''Better Books'' was an independent bookstore. It was founded by

Tony Godwin Anthony Richard James Wylie Godwin (17 December 1919 – 15 March 1976) was an influential British publisher of the 1960s/1970s. His contribution to the publishing industry is recognized in the form of the Tony Godwin Memorial Trust. Born in Ledb ...

and was located at 94 Charing Cross Road,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. The shop was a significant location in the 1960s counterculture movement in London.

History

It was founded by British publisher

who took over the premises at 94 Charing Cross Road, London, in 1946.Keshvani, Rozemin , ''Better Books Better Bookz: Art Anarchy Apostasy, Counterculture and the New Avant-garde''; Fountain, Nigel: ''Underground: the London alternative press, 1966-74'', p. 14. Taylor & Francis, 1988, In 1964, Tony Godwin visited

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and the

City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ti ...

. He met

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, an ...

and suggested a work exchange, whereby Ferlinghetti would send "one of his Beats over in exchange for an English salesman who needed some education". City Lights store manager Dick McBride moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for six months to help "bohemianize" Better Books. Better Books had a string of influential managers including Bill Butler,

Bob Cobbing Bob Cobbing (30 July 1920 – 29 September 2002) was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival. Early life Cobbing was born in Enfield and grew up within the Plymouth Breth ...

and

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

, who set about ordering a large quantity of books from City Lights and Grove Press.Nuttall, Jeff: ''Bomb Culture'' MacGibbon & Kee, 1968, Another manager, of the American and underground wing, was David Kozubei, who was later invited to the United States to run and radicalize a bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from whence he was recruited by the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

brothers with a promise of a partnership which never materialized, to set up, stock, and manage their first flagship store, also in Ann Arbor. Better Books was once described as a "mini

Arts Lab The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane, London. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK, continental Europe and Australia, includ ...

", and served as stage, cinema and gallery. Its cross-disciplinary approach welcomed new art forms such as assemblage, performance art, and radical poetry. Together with other alternative galleries, including 26

Kingly Street Kingly Street is a street in London's Soho district. It runs north to south from Liberty's and Foubert's Place to Beak Street, in parallel to, and between, Regent Street and Carnaby Street. It was known as King Street until 1906. The Bag O'N ...

and Miles' Indica Bookshop, Better Books was one of the hot spots of the London underground scene.The pre-history of the London Co-op: from HAT Film Club to Cinema 65
It was home to the ''Better Books Writers Nights'' and in March 1965 it housed the ''sTigma Environmental Exhibition'', inspired by Alex Trocchi's ''Sigma, A Tactical Blueprint'' and featuring a contribution by

Jeff Nuttall Jeffrey Addison Nuttall (8 July 1933 – 4 January 2004) was an English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, anarchist and social commentator who was a key part of the British 1960s counter-culture. He was the brother of l ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

arrived at Better Books in May 1965, and offered to read anywhere for free. Ginsberg's first reading at Better Books was described by Jeff Nuttall as "the first healing wind on a very parched collective mind" and in ''

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 w ...

'', Tom McGrath wrote: "''This could well turn out to have been a very significant moment in the history of England - or at least in the history of English Poetry''".Fountain, Nigel: ''Underground: the London alternative press, 1966-74'', p. 16. Taylor & Francis, 1988, Shortly after the reading at Better Books, plans were hatched for the International Poetry Incarnation. Later, another shop called Better Books opened in Forrest Road, Edinburgh and became part of the city's "alternative" scene during the 1970s. It followed a similar policy to the London shop, and was used as a venue for poetry readings during the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

References

{{UK underground British Poetry Revival Underground culture Beat Generation Independent bookshops of the United Kingdom Bookshops in London

History

Further reading

References