Book Shops ~ Antiquarian, Used and New

We own a 75,000 volume used bookstore in a downtown area that has 3 other bookstores and several other venues which sell books as well. This town has 13,000 inhabitants and while we do get a good portion of our business from tourists and second-home dwellers, we rely upon our locals to keep us going throughout the year. We all work together to ensure that someone searching for a particular book finds it, in our shop or someone else's.

This sharing of customer bases extends to the restaurants and inns and other types of shops and businesses in the area. We all know that getting the customer what he or she is after will benefit us all and act accordingly. When Helene and Alan owned Beckwood Pond we had a particularly close relationship with them. They were situated just a few miles out of town, liked our store and wanted their guests to know about us too. They found a space for some of our bookmarks, provided a map and directions to our store and we posted a brochure for their inn in our store.

The same kind of local support extends to the myriad restaurants and other businesses located in town. It all seems to work out so well. Together we make customers happy that they came to our town. In theory this will generate a lot of repeat business, which in practice does seem to be the case.

Over the past decade, Jonkers has formed an international reputation for handling exceptional copies of fine and rare books predominantly in the fields of: MODERN FIRST EDITIONS, FINE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, CLASSIC CHILDREN’S FICTION and NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE.

We take great care in our selections of books, and insist on only handling those items in the finest condition or with significant literary association. We are equally able to build entire libraries, add the final books to a collection or simply find the perfect gift for a special occasion.

Jonkers was founded in 1991 by Christiaan Jonkers and specialized in the first editions of twentieth century literature. The company grew rapidly and in 1998 merged with Sam Jonkers (then Johnstone) Bromlea Books, which was based in the north of England and specialized in childrens’ and illustrated books.

Throughout, Jonkers’ principle has been simple: to handle only the very best copies available in each field. Before any book goes on sale it is meticulously checked for any defects and collated to ensure every plate is present and perfect. It is then carefully researched to take into consideration its rarity, condition and historical importance. With this information it is priced and catalogued to note all the elements of the collation and research. All books are unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic and as described.
        

The Whitby Bookshop occupies five rooms in a Grade II listed building in the heart of the historic seaport of Whitby. We are an independent shop which prides itself on the range of stock and the quality of service. With thousands of books in stock, we cater for all your reading and reference requirements. If you are not sure exactly what you are looking for our experienced and friendly staff are very happy to help you.

As well as full price books we have an excellent selection of remainder books. Apart from the range of stock we offer we have an excellent ordering service. We can carry out a computerised search for any book and order anything which is currently in print. The vast majority of orders arrive the very next day. If you would like to order from us but do not live locally we are happy to post books.

A number of local authors have chosen to launch their books at the shop and we have a number of author signing events each year - allowing customers to meet favourite authors. Shadowmancer by G P Taylor was launched in this shop in October 2002 and has gone on to be a world-wide phenomenon with a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie currently in production. The Whitby Bookshop has regular author signing sessions. Full details of these events will be published on our website as and when they are confirmed. Please visit our website for all information, and do not hesitate to contact us for additional enquiries ~ we are open 7 days a week.