Did you know
A mile of shelves.
The Book Shop in Wigtown holds around 100,000 books on over a mile of shelving.
Dumfries and Galloway
The Book Shop, Wigtown
Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop, in Wigtown, with around 100,000 books on over a mile of shelves, a log fire and a shop cat.
Welcome
Behind a green shopfront in Wigtown, Scotland's National Book Town, the Book Shop is the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland, and the oldest in the town.
Around a hundred thousand books fill more than a mile of shelving, running from room to room through the old house.
The shop is run by Shaun Bythell, whose Diary of a Bookseller, a wry account of life behind the counter, has been translated into twenty-eight languages and followed by several more books. Readers who know it will recognise the log fire, the armchairs among the shelves and Captain, the shop cat.
It opens from Monday to Saturday, nine till five. Browsing here can easily fill an afternoon, and the shop also runs its own Random Book Club.
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Before you go
Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
- Where
- 17 North Main Street, Wigtown, DG8 9HL.
- Books
- About 100,000.
- Shelves
- Over a mile.
Opening hours
Their website- Monday
- 9am–5pm
- Tuesday
- 9am–5pm
- Wednesday
- 9am–5pm
- Thursday
- 9am–5pm
- Friday
- 9am–5pm
- Saturday
- 9am–5pm
- Sunday
- Closed
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Add your reviewDid you know
Did you know
Twenty-eight languages.
Shaun Bythell's Diary of a Bookseller, written in his Wigtown shop, has been translated into 28 languages.
Emily Rose Mawson
From our guide to Dumfries and Galloway
The Bookshop is not only Wigtown's largest second-hand bookshop, but Scotland's too. It occupies a sprawling Georgian building and is packed floor to ceiling with books about almost everything.
Read moreGraeme Johncock
Wigtown is known as Scotland’s National Book Town, hosting the annual Wigtown Book Festival.
Read moreWhat is on
What is new across Dumfries and Galloway, day by day.
New places, news and stories, as we find them.
What is on in Dumfries and GallowayWhere it is
At 17 North Main Street, just off the square in Wigtown, DG8 9HL.
Close byWigtown.
Byre Books, WigtownUnder a mile 1 min by road
ReadingLassesA bookshop and café on South Main Street in Wigtown, specialising in books by and about women, with homemade cakes.Under a mile as the crow flies
WigtownScotland's National Book Town.Under a mile 1 min by road
The Open BookThe bookshop you can run on holiday.Under a mile 1 min by road
Well-Read Books of WigtownA secondhand bookshop in Wigtown, opened in 2018 in the old Grapes Bar by Ruth Anderson, a retired QC, with a crime book club.Under a mile 1 min by road
WhithornSt Ninian's town to the south.11 miles 16 min by road
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Read on
The collections it is in and more in Dumfries and Galloway.
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .