(map) 
It is encouraging to find a bookshop that has survived the trinket establishments in this tourist challenged city. The Old World Bookshop, owned by John Francis Phillimore, is particularly appealing, possessing just the right amount of chaos and mustiness that book lovers treasure. Stop in while you are exploring the ancient Venetian Ghetto, in the Cannaregio sestriere. It sits discreetly just off the Campo del Gheto Novo and over a small bridge (Ponte del Gheto Vecio).
John came to Venice from London, having previously lived for some time in Florence. He found an empty shop and filled it with books, heroically setting up the bookshelves himself with the help of a manual screwdriver (he later yielded to an electric one). The finished shelves contain all sorts of books: rare editions, out of print and used, and very few new ones. Books are piled on every surface and available floor space, scattered treasures for people who know (or don’t) what they are looking for!
John also publishes a series of beautifully printed limited edition poetry “pamphlets”, and periodically hosts poetry readings and discussions. Stop by for that rare book, to peruse, to chat.
(Civilly closed on Saturdays, on Sundays, and for lunch.)
– Contributed by Patricia Glee Smith (see bio), accomplished artist and very involved archaeology aficionado based in Otricoli, Umbria. Click here to view her artwork.
How lovely! Wish I had known about this when we were there. We’ll have to look for it “next time” and tell my book loving friends about it. Thanks!
Sounds like a must (no pun!) for our next visit to Venice. I worked in a rare book shop in London for a few years and love places like this. A great recommendation. Thanks Patricia.
This is wonderful!!! My husband and I have traveled to Italy three times so far. We always look for american-Italian book stores. We are avid readers and enjoy many kinds of books.Next time we will stop in to say Hi. If you need a helping hand my husband Art would totally enjoy re-locating and working with you in the bookstore.
Thanks,
Claudia McCadden
Hi Pat! I saw this article the other day and then re-visited your art (on-line) with great pleasure. Good luck in your new “diggin’s”. K
What a great article, Pat, and wonderful photos – that’s just exactly what a bookstore should look like!
I made several mistakes in Venice, but missing this bookstore was not one of them. I lost my wallet to a convenient shelf when I bought tickets for the vaporetti (and did not later find it again) and was foolish enough not to take down reference numbers, titles, authors, for what John told me was simply ‘the Venice book.’ If anyone has such detail, I’d like to get it. The purse was not irrelevant, since its loss left we without the means of buying the book, and no-one elsewhere has the slightest idea of what I am referring to—in Arezzo or the internet—isbn/ title, or date of publication preferred.