David Baxter
5/5
Abbey's Bookshop deserves to be regarded as a Sydney institution of special shops, not just bookshops. I have been buying far too many books at Abbey's for my limited bookshelves long before its present location. The first location I knew led me to long term speculation about the origin of the name Abbey's (see final photo), but I subsequently learned it was the family name of the owners.
Though the Galaxy (department) bookshop had to relocate from the present site of Red Eye Records to the present building of Abbey's Bookshop, and even though Abbey's has not been immune to the forces at play against physical shops and bookshops in particular (which means a game, puzzle, or whatnot shelf here and there), for non-fiction books in stock Abbey's curated selection is still superb.
On more subjects than I can list here, and in divisions of subjects like history (which is first by country or region and era) Abbey's maintains stock of important and interesting titles, and new titles, from both large, small and specialised publishers. If I want to introduce myself to a new non-fiction field, or improve my knowledge in a given field (including biographies), for a book purchase I would go to Abbey's first. What they do not have in stock, and rarely there isn't an appropriate choice in stock, they can reliably find and obtain.
I must specially note current world current and political affairs as an Abbey's highlight.
From as far apart as film noir and silents in film history through US Civil War history to (up to the date) planetary Astronomy - and so many fields in between - the vast majority of my books have Abbey's labels; and about all that I return to time and again have the same labels. Overwhelmingly I found them in stock on the shelves on a visit there.
For instance, on Wednesday night I saw a beautiful sunset in Sydney with incredible cloud patterns. So what book did I see on an Abbey's shelf browsing for nothing in particular on Thursday: the subject of the first photo. The Updated edition - of course!
Fiction books also have that special curated maintained stock at Abbey's, though in consideration of sheer quantity of titles and stock there are considerably larger physical shop retailers. However, when all factors are combined, Abbey's is second to none at least for crime and "classics", and the skill, taste and knowledge of the selection of titles maintained in stock tells again. For instance, if you love Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone", go first to Abbey's to find on the shelf the widest range of his other titles like "No Name". Also, a range of authors to be found in no other one shop.
Readers of "classics" will also appreciate that many titles have editions from different publishers. There are some obvious benefits of that. Perhaps a less obvious benefit is the choice between the nature of footnotes or endnotes. Reading the title for the first time, the better choice might be brief notes that do not interrupt the flow of the story and contain no spoilers. Returning to a title after some years, the better choice might be much more detailed notes that provide analysis of style, context and history information, and even spoilers when looking at construction of the story.
The Galaxy science fiction department, sharing the first floor with the Language Bookshop, is obviously not as it was when occupying what is now Red Eye Records, but still nice to have those specialised departments handy. Not my haunts though.
By the way, the staff are knowledgeable book lovers and helpful, and will recommend books not in stock - if that is the best for what you are seeking. They probably have some great brush-with-fame stories from the luminaries I have seen buying books there - even if I didn't vote for them (all). Perhaps I would trade off a little modern age efficiency for old age chattiness, but others may disagree - especially if shopping at weekday lunchtime when the shop can be very busy.
I have long put off this review because I was not sure I could do the shop justice. I tried.
