Family-run secondhand and antiquarian bookshop on Great Western Road at Kelvinbridge in Glasgow's West End, established 1986, spanning two floors with a strong stock of Scottish literature, history and philosophy titles.
Best for Secondhand and antiquarian books since 1986
Caledonia Books has traded as a family-run secondhand and antiquarian bookshop since 1986, on Great Western Road near Kelvinbridge in Glasgow's West End. The shop is known for a densely packed interior - books arranged in rows on the floor, piled in boxes, and stacked to the ceiling across two floors - with particular strength in Scottish, literature, art, history and philosophy titles. Stock is almost entirely secondhand and sold at modest prices, with genuinely rare or antiquarian volumes the exception rather than the rule.
Category Is Books is an independent LGBTQIA+ bookshop at 34 Allison Street in the southside of Glasgow, describing itself as a space for queer books, history, art, activism and storytelling.
East End Press makes colourful paper decorations and stationery designed in Glasgow and screen-printed by hand in Jaipur. Its garlands and greeting cards use paper made from recycled cotton pulp. The shop at 427 Great Western Road is beside Kelvinbridge Subway Station and carries the brand's full collection alongside other selected gifts.
Best for Hand-printed paper garlands and stationery in Kelvinbridge
East End Press begins with a printmaker's interest in colour. Its garlands and paper decorations use screen-printing, a process that can leave small variations between impressions. Those slightly offset colours are part of the appearance, rather than something the studio tries to remove. Recycled cotton pulp forms the paper used for its own products.
Designer Ellie Hodesdon started the business in Glasgow in 2015. Production initially happened there too, but the growing garland range outgrew her setup. In 2018 she went to Jaipur to find printmakers, and a family there continues to make the brand's products. The distinction matters when choosing a souvenir: these are Glasgow designs with Indian printing and making, rather than a claim of entirely Scottish manufacture.
The shop is at 427 Great Western Road, beside Kelvinbridge Subway Station. It carries the full East End Press collection and a selection of other gifts. Greeting cards and wrapping paper offer smaller purchases. Garlands and hanging decorations are options for bringing colour to a room.
The Glasgow second-hand bookshop Voltaire & Rousseau has packed its Otago Lane rooms in the West End with pre-loved, antiquarian and rare titles. Alongside the walk-in shop, open 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, it runs a full online catalogue spanning first editions to 10-pound paperbacks.
Best for Secondhand-books, antiquarian, rare-books
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