Today I would like to share with you the story of John Smith’s bookshop, a pioneer in the field of the book trade in Scotland. The bookshop was created in 1751. It was located for many years at 57–61 St Vincent Street, Glasgow before closing in 2000. Its story, which followed that of Glasgow, is well worth the telling.

It was entirely by chance that I discovered the story of John Smith & Son. I came across it while reading an article in a back issue of The Scots Magazine (November 1989).

John Smith & Son picture – Herald and Times Group – Source : Lost Glasgow (June 2018)

About the very interesting Lost Glasgow website,
do you know how Norry Wilson has become renowned across Glasgow
for this Facebook group, where he shares old photographs of the city ?

(To date, I’m not a member of Facebook
but a number of interesting articles published by Lost Glasgow
are accessible to non-Facebook members)

Perhaps it’s my nostalgic side that drives me so often to immerse in the old magazines piled up in a corner of our library room. But you can’t  imagine how many forgotten treasures I have found while leafing through these dusty old magazines, moving relics of a bygone era.

Not only have I been subscribing to The Scots Magazine for years, but I have also collected a large number of back issues, the oldest one dating back to the 1970s. With society having changed so much since then, my old magazines, so lovely and practical in their handy small format,  feel like little time capsules from another era.—soft echoes of bygone age. However, The Scots Magazine is still much older than than the 70s for it was founded in Dundee in 1739.

But now, back to St Vincent Street in Glasgow and to John Smith’s bookshop as it was in 1989.

“Oldest bookshop – Newest Ideas” 

It is in the November 1989 issue of The Scots Magazine that I discovered a very interesting article about “Scotland’s Oldest Bookshop”.  “Oldest Bookshop – Newest Ideas”: in the four well-chosen words of his title, Thomas Thomson manages to capture the very essence of the bookshop.

Illustrated with lively photographs, Thomas Thomson begins his article: “On a bright summer morning, I arrived at John Smith’s bookshop on St Vincent Street in Glasgow. Waiting to welcome me was Robert Clow, the Chairman and Managing Director.”

The Director introduces the bookshop as « probably the oldest continuously trading bookshop in the UK. » and he adds  « Even so we are not quite old enough to have sold the first Scots Magazine in 1739 – we didn’t get started until 12 years later in 1751 »

1989: John Smith’s Bookshop under the enlightened leadership of Robert Clow…

Moving from one lively exchange to another with the heads of each department, Thomas Thomson paints a vivid picture of the bookshop’s daily operations in 1989.

Volumes Glasgow bookshop – Source The Scots Magazine

Five main shops, including “Volumes” (opened in Queen Street in 1988), were then operating in Glasgow…

And three satellite shops or units were also in operation then.

• Clydebank College
• The Royal Infirmary
• Paisley College

A very competent and enthusiastic team ran the shop…

• Robert Clow, the very dynamic and inspired director…
• Fiona Stewart, who appears on the cover of The Scots Magazine, manageress of the General Books Department at St Vincent Street…
• Ross McKenzie, manager of the Antiquarian and Secondhand Book Department…
• Cathy Boylan, in charge of the Bibliographic Services Unit…
• Morag MacAlpine of the University Libraries Department…
• Hans  Van der Grip, manager of “Volumes”, the newly created bookshop…
• Bill Reid manager of the Maps Department.

A funny anecdote: “Du bon usage des livres” 😉😂

Here’s an anecote told to Thomas Thomson by Ross McKenzie, the manager of the Antiquarian and Secondhand Book Department :

“One unusual request I had was from a lady in The Netherlands who wanted 12 metres of books with fine leather bindings to fill bookcase space. He assembled such a collection, but the price was too high. She finally settled for seven metres of mixed leather and cloth bindings, and put plants in the remaining space.”😉

Ross adds :

“English dealers, too, are always on the lookout for sets of volumes with fine bindings. Interior decorators buy them for offices where they provide high-prestige decoration”

Moxy Hotel Edinburgh Airport © 2020 Scotiana

A wall of books! Such a tragic fate for these volumes, each carrying its own story…  Yet, in the end, so many books meet destruction sooner or later… “Inanimate objects, do you have a soul?”

Very ancient books and rare items… 

I would have loved to lose myself for hours in Ross McKenzie’s Antiquarian and Secondhand Book Department, wandering among shelves of old books that whispered stories of the past and rare treasures waiting to be discovered.

A very ancient book

Let us listen to Ross, he is truly passionate about his work and never tires of talking about the treasures he has discovered… a very ancient book or a rare item…

“We sell anything from 10p to £1,000.The most valuable item I’ve sold is a Blaeu Atlas of the counties of Scotland, published in Amesterdam in 1654. It went for £3,500. A bargain at that price!

A genuine ‘Antique Smith’

“Inside a glass bookcase was a framed letter”, writes Thomas Thomson still in the Antiquarian Department with Ross MacKenzie.  “It’s a genuine ‘Antique Smith”, Ross told me.  “Yes it was for sale”, adds Thomson. “This example was to be minutes taken by Robert Burns at a Masonic Lodge meeting in Edinburgh.”

“Antique Smith” ?

Alexander Howland Smith (1859–1913), aka “Antique Smith,” was a Scottish clerk who became a notorious forger in late 19th-century Edinburgh. Initially selling genuine historical documents, he soon created fake letters and manuscripts supposedly by figures like Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Smith’s forgeries fooled collectors because of the Victorian craze for literary relics. He was exposed in 1892, tried in 1893 for selling forged documents, and sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Today, his works still appear in collections, valued both as curiosities and examples of literary forgery, highlighting the importance of careful authentication.

I’m definitely learning a lot from The Scots Magazine ! Indeed, if the subject of ‘Antique Smith’ interests you there is an article about the question in the June 1987 issue of The Scots Magazine. (I don’t have this issue in my collection…)

MAPS !

Kenneth White La maison des marées – House of Tides

My Atlantic library is pretty well stocked with books ( a few thousand volumes in several languages)
and in maps (all kinds of atlases, portulans and charts)

(Kenneth White – House of Tides – ‘A Bibliophile Fantasia’ )

There are several maps too of Labrador and Newfoundland, China and Japan,
the Pacific islands, the forest areas of America, the geology of the Armorican peinsula,
and the five square kilometres around the house

(Kenneth White – House of Tides – ‘An Atlantic Studio’)

One of my favorite pastimes is to lose myself in a map or a globe, to wander through the pages of an atlas… it never fails to captivate me. 😉 My office is a world unto itself, filled with maps from every corner of the globe—and, naturally, many of Scotland, some stretching gracefully across the walls like silent witnesses to distant lands.

By 1989, the Maps Department at the JS Bookshop, under the leadership of Bill Reid, had already established itself as a cornerstone of the institution.

“John Smith and Son have been agents for the Ordnance Survey Maps for over 100 years. They are also agents for HMSO publications…

“Bill finds that besides the regular demand for Ordnance Survey 1:50000 scale maps is proving very popular. There is also a big demand for maps for holidays abroad. “

One of the Maps Department’s most popular services is producing prints from the Ordnance Survey Maps of Scotland, which are stored on microfilm. The maps are at a scale of 1:1,250 in towns and 1:5,000 in rural areas (comparable to the cartes d’état-major in France), making this service extremely valuable for surveyors.

Over two centuries of history for John Smith & Son bookshop…

• The first John Smith (1711-1814)
• John Smith the second (1753-1833)
• John Smith the third (1784-1849)
• Three Knoxes
• Robert Clow (1934–2022), a very dynamic and charismatic manager who became the first chairman in 2000 of the continuing John Smith Group

“The first John Smith , the founder of the business, was the youngest son of the laird of Craigend, Strathblane. He had been wounded in 1747 at the Battle of Laffeldt during the War of the Austrian Sucession, after which he returned to Glasgow to take up the more peaceful pursuit of bookselling, setting up shop in the Trongate.” 

(Robert Clow – The Scots Magazine – November 1989)

John Smith I: the founder of JS Glasgow Bookshop …

The first John Smith (1711-1814) was the third son of John Smith (1675-1732), 2nd Laird of Craigend in Strathblane, and Margaret (Mary) Williamson(e) of Mugdock. His elder brother, Robert (b. 1709) was a bookseller and the two appear to have worked together in the first half of the eighteenth-century.

It could well be that John Smith had begun trading in 1742 but other events took him in another direction. The call to arms by the Magistrates and Council of Glasgow after the threat of the Jacobite army destroying the city took Smith away from the book trade. Whether he gave up the business totally or left someone, possibly Robert, to run it for him, is unknown…

After the final defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, the Dragoons, under the Duke of Kingston, were disbanded, but the Duke of Cumberland, impressed by the skill of the men, was granted permission to raise his own Regiment of Light Dragoons, enlisting men from this disbanded regiment and elsewhere. It was in this regiment that John Smith, Eldest, enlisted under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Manners-Sutton (1722-1762).

Smith subsequently saw action at the Battle of Lauffeld (Lafelt) in 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. During the ensuing battle Smith lost two fingers from his right hand, which prevented him from further active service; he was discharged in October of that year.

We cannot be certain when Smith returned to Glasgow, but it seems he re-entered the book trade, and together with his brother Robert released, as separate printings in 1751, the sermons of George Whitefield (1714-1770).

(Stephen Hall’s thesis John Smith, Youngest (1784-1849), and the Book Trade of Glasgow.)

“John Smith did well, moved shop twice eventually owning commodious premises opposite the Tron Church. He also started the first circulating library in Glasgow in 1753. (The Scots Magazine)”

The University of Glasgow’s first Edinburgh edition of Burns’s poems

“This January (2009) sees the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns – Scotland’s national bard – and the beginning of Homecoming Scotland 2009, a yearlong programme of nationwide events staged in his honour. Therefore we take a close look at a remarkable volume held by the University of Glasgow Library: a rare first Edinburgh edition of Burns’ Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect embellished with manuscript notes and poems penned by the poet’s own hand.

This volume was acquired by the University of Glasgow Library from a Los Angeles rare book dealer in late 1961. In association with Homecoming Scotland 2009 the volume was on display in the University Library’s Special Collections Department from the beginning of January until the end of March, 2009.”

John Smith III and the publication of Dr. Thomas Chalmer’s Astronomical Discourses 

Thomas Chalmers by David Octavius Hill c1843-47 – Wikimedia

Quite a story  that reveals the character of one of the greatest preachers of the time!

The last Smith was set to publish Astronomical Discourses by Dr. Thomas Chalmers, a bestselling collection of sermons that sold 20,000 copies within a year. Encouraged by its success, Smith offered Chalmers 1,000 guineas for a new edition of 7,000 copies. However, Chalmers believed the potential profits could be higher and, without consulting Smith, made a separate deal with Longmans, a London publisher, to jointly publish the new collection with Smith and William Whyte of Edinburgh. Smith learned of this arrangement through Longmans and was displeased.

In the event, the second collection of sermons did not prove a success, and the result was an unholy quarrel. Chalmers blamed his publishers , especially Smith, for the poor sales. He claimed that they had stirred up the booksellers against him by asking a higher price than was usual in the trade

The second collection of sermons failed to succeed, leading to a bitter dispute.

“I do not hesitate to say that I can have not comfort in having any further correspondence with you in the business of authorship,’ Dr. Chalmers wrote to Smith”

Smith’s loss was Collins‘s gain.

From the 1960s to the  2000s…

There is a lot of very interesting information in  John Smith’s: Historical perspectives and historical precedence published in 2015  by Simon Frost and Stephen Hall, University of Glasgow (2015)

Robert Clow, a key figure in the development of John Smith bookshop (1969-1994)

“Up until the late 1960s, selling and business practices at JS were based on traditional methods perfected over a very long period. Under the managing directorship of Robert Clow, however, from 1969 JS experienced a measure of innovation. […]

The St Vincent Street shop was to become the iconic bookselling landmark in Glasgow with six floors of books dedicated to a wide range of subjects, Ordinance Survey and HMSO.

JS were one of the earliest users of electronic stock control and book ordering, had the largest selection of fiction outside of London, were the first bookshop to launch author evenings in 1979 with authors such as Lauren Bacall and David Attenborough, and held lunchtime musical recitals. They were also the first to open a multimedia department in the early 1990s dedicated to selling CD-ROMs. Robert Clow believed that staff should own the company they worked in, and so introduced the means whereby staff could become shareholders.”

Willie Anderson

When Robert Clow retired in 1994, Willie Anderson took over his managerial role at JS, continuing the company’s influence in the bookselling industry. Anderson was key in opening a JS branch in Seattle to improve book delivery and costs. He later became Deputy Chairman after JS was acquired by Peter Gray in 2001 and received the Gerry Davis Award in 2008.

By the late 20th century, JS was expanding its bookselling operations in Glasgow and across Scotland, with branches on university campuses. They also operated campus shops and general stores in cities like Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen.

JS’s success in university bookselling was partly due to their early efforts in securing reading lists for courses, a practice initiated by Robert Clow in the 1950s. This allowed them to efficiently manage inventory based on student demand.

However, the rise of online bookstores, especially Amazon, created significant challenges for traditional booksellers. Amazon, which started as an online book retailer in 1995, rapidly expanded into various markets, offering lower prices due to fewer operational costs. This new competition led to a decline in profits for JS, which by 1998 had decreased significantly. Faced with these pressures, JS refocused on academic bookselling and library supply, cutting back on other operations.

2000 …  St Vincent Street bookshop close…

Neither the first nor, sadly, the last to close and not only in Scotland, the trend seems irreversible….

The header of a 1967 receipt from John Smith & Son

Yes the legendary, very popular John Smith and Son bookshop closed, like many of its kind and it’s sad, sad, sad !

“The loss of a major big bookshop in town is a thing to be sad about.
Especially one that had the widest selection over the most floors, the most knowledgeable staff, kept trying new things, and was the only place to go for foreign newspapers and magazines.

Yes, the closure of the St Vincent Street John Smith & Sons was a great loss to Glasgow.”

Gordon’s Miscellanea The Volumes of Bookshops I have known…

“John Smith & Sons, my first Glasgow bookshop, shut years ago too. It was on St. Vincent Street and my sister took me there to see Tom Baker, The Doctor, sign copies of his book. It was another large shop with levels and stairs and glass cabinets. I bought a few Target Doctor Who books and still have them in a box. When I talked to a friend about John Smith & Sons, she swears there was a bookshop nearby called Volumes. She can’t remember what book she bought from it. (…)

When John Smith & Sons closed, it wasn’t just the end of a bookshop, with staff losing jobs, and readers missing out on another space to support authors. It was the end of something that had been around in some form since 1907. A branch of the shop exists at Strathclyde University, but I’ve always been a little wary of going there, because…I’m not a student anymore and somehow, I get paranoid they’ll detect a non-student and chase me out the shop. Maybe if I wore a backpack?” 😂

Glasgow in the 18th century…

John Smith’s bookshop owed its success to a long line of passionate managers which had developed it  for more than two and a half centuries, since its creation in 1751, not long after Culloden disaster at a time of political turmoil but in the midst of the Age of Enlightenment,  in Glasgow, a very prosperous city (tobacco lords etc)… the cultural effervescence radiating from the University of Glasgow – the second oldest university of Scotland (1451)  (Adam Smith) the religious influence emanating from a strong current uncompromising Presbyterianism (John Knox)

Glasgow in the 19 th century…

By the way, how old is Glasgow?

In 2025, the city celebrates Glasgow 850, marking 850 years since its official founding. It’s the perfect time to reflect on the captivating story of how Glasgow grew from a humble riverside settlement into one of the UK’s most influential cities.

Sources

Books and bookshops !

JA at The Book Shop in Wigtown © 2006 Scotiana

Books, bookshops, libraries and book festivals are deeply interconnected, and when they decline, culture declines with them. Yet one by one, high-street bookshops are disappearing, squeezed by online competition and powerful retail chains. The closure of John Smith & Son in 2000 was a particularly striking loss, though sadly far from unique : across Scotland, the UK, and the world, beloved cultural spaces have fallen silent.  Naturally optimistic, I nonetheless hope that the disappearance of these much-loved local cultural spaces does not signal a cultural swan song, nor the dawn of a diminished, acculturated world.

And there is reason for optimism. On Monday 2 December 2024, Glasgow was named a  UNESCO Learning City, the first and only city in Scotland to receive this honour. This recognition highlights the city’s cultural dynamism, shared with Edinburgh and many other iconic Scottish places. Scotland has long been a land of cultural vitality, as it was in the heyday of Smith’s bookshop and we’ll never cease to celebrate this through our posts on Scottish books, authors, bookshops, libraries, and festivals.

• 2010 : Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Catriona, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…
• 2011 : On the Shelves of our Favourite Scottish Writers’ Libraries
• 2015 : Scotiana’s Books for Christmas: Jules Verne’s Scotland
• 2020 : Great Scottish Books to Help Pass the Time in Lockdown…
• 2021 : Forgotten treasures and new gems in my Scottish Library!
• 2021 :  A Selection of Scottish Authors & Books for Christmas 2021
• 2024 : Authors and books that will make you love Scotland…

Outside Byre Books with a bag full of books – Wigtown © 2006 Scotiana

A true bible of Scottish cuisine : “The Glasgow Cookery Book”,  enjoyed remarkable success and was handed down from mother to daughter across generations, ranked among the great triumphs of the John Smith bookshop.”

Iain and Margaret did offer me the magnificent centenary edition, thoroughly revised and complete, published by Waverley in 2010. 😉😉😉

A bookmark rests between the pages devoted to scones and muffins.😉

The Glasgow Cookery Book – John Smith & Son 1962 -1954

Bibliotheca Scotica 1926

One of the gems in my library is Bibliotheca Scotica, a 1926 catalogue published by John Smith & Son. 😉

Further reading on Scotiana…

• Welcome to Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town
• Wigtown: “A Mind Amongst Books, Like Fire In The Heather”
• From Mitchell Library to Loch Croispol Bookshop
• A Glasgow Landmark: The Mitchell Library

I save the best for last ! 

How about a tea or lunch break before losing yourself in a maze of corridors and staircases piled high with books from floor to ceiling? Claire warmly invites us in… let’s follow her across the road to The Last Book Store… she is an excellent storyteller! Many thanks to her! 😉

Nestled on Hope Street in Glasgow, The Last Bookstore occupies the former home of John Smith & Sons Bookshop. Today it’s a bar and restaurant, but step inside and you’ll still feel the literary spirit lingering in the air.

Enjoy!

Take your time exploring each section of my post… to follow the links… to watch the videos… immerse yourself in it all….

I hope it will inspire you to visit—or revisit—Glasgow and, perhaps, as we certainly will on our next trip to Scotland, drop by The Last Store to browse its collection of old books, taste some of their specialties , and, who knows, try and listen to the faint whispers of the ghosts that linger in this history-steeped place.”

Á bientôt. 😉

Mairiuna

University of Glasgow – Wikipedia