Torc Books, Snettisham, Norfolk
Torc Books, Snettisham, Norfolk
An ordinary terraced house in a small North Norfolk village. A beautiful if sunbleached window display of Beatrix Potter and Flower Fairies reveals a visit into a front room piled high, wall to wall, floor to ceiling with books, and a glimpse of a further room beyond.
We are greeted by the 86-year old proprietor, Mrs Shepperd who comes forward to greet us with a cheerful ‘Good afternoon’ as it has just gone noon, and gives us an introduction to the shop, and where to find things: ‘There is no charge for just looking.’ I warm to Mrs Shepperd.
In the front room it is mostly antiquarian and second-hand, although there are a smattering of new books arranged around a central table. In the back room, above – what you might call a front desk, somewhere under more piles of books – a sign declares:
‘Too many books? I think what you mean is not enough bookshelves.’
The books continue around into the hall all the way to the ‘front door’, and all the way up the stairs. Books on the landing are best viewed from the stairs. All the rooms are perfectly categorised. Theatre, plays, and sheet music in one; another for science and engineering; periodicals in another. Some higher shelves are even labelled ‘Not for sale’.
I ask about Edward Ardizzone, and she knows where she typically has them, then picks one straight out the window display (I don’t know how I could have missed this one!). Browsing another shelf, I pluck a Robert Louis Stevenson and realise from the unmistakable cover that another Ardizzone has fallen into my hands.
When it comes to paying its cash or cheques, although Mrs Shepperd does mention the cash machine at the Co-op down the road. At 86 she can’t be involved in card payments or computerising the stock - it’s all just in her head. Torc Books is a proper bookshop, just like they should be.
Books bought: Ardizzones’s Kilvert by Rev Francis Kilvert, and Home from Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson, both illustrated throughout by Edward Ardizzone.
Prints are printed using the fine art giclée process on acid free, cotton rag archival paper. The inks used are UV resistant, so your print will look beautiful for an incredibly long time.
All prints come with a certificate of authenticity and signed.
Unmounted prints are wrapped and shipped in a sturdy cardboard tube. Mounted prints are backed and wrapped and available upon request.
Available in three sizes: small (A5 - 6x8", mounted to 10x8"), medium (A4 - 8x11”, mounted to11x14") or large (A3 - 11x16”, mounted to 16x20"), each limited to a run of 75.