The secondhand bookshop in Abergavenny opposite St Mary's Priory around thirty sections

01873 857127 16 Monk Street, Abergavenny, NP7 5NP

BROADLEAF Books · Monk Street · Abergavenny Sell us your books

Independent · secondhand · opposite St Mary's Priory

A market-town bookshop, around thirty sections.

The only secondhand bookshop in Abergavenny, run by Joanna Chambers from 16 Monk Street, opposite St Mary's Priory Church. Photography and natural history are the favourite shelves; Folio Society editions and First Editions live a step further back. Stock is chosen one book at a time. The window display rotates.

30 sectionsCatalogued in the shop

Since the marketChildren's stall to Monk Street

AbeBooks 2003Online member id 2946694

Reasonable pricesBelow online when we can

Browse the sections Phone the shop · 01873 857127

PhotographyThe acclaimed back wall

Folios & FirstsOn the standing shelves

Natural historyBirds · mammals · seas · trees

WalesLocal history · walking · Welsh fiction

SIX OF THE THIRTY · THE SHELF MAP

Six of the sections on the floor right now.

Phone · 01873 857127 →

The shop is laid out across roughly thirty catalogued sections, from Mountaineering and Country Life to Cowboys, Theatre and a small standing run of Penguins. Six of the most representative are below; the full list is what the Explore plan-of-the-floor on the live site is trying to be.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography

Monographs from around the world, landscape, portrait and everything in between. The owner's own favourite shelf.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

FOLIO SOCIETY

Folios

A standing selection of Folio Society editions, the slipcased hardbacks, classics published the way they deserve.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

NATURAL HISTORY

Natural History

Birds, mammals, seas, trees. A small standing run of New Naturalist hardbacks (the Collins series) when they pass through.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

LOCAL HISTORY

Local History & Wales

Welsh land, people and walking guides. Welsh-language fiction from Jack Jones to Alexander Cordell on the other wall.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

FIRST EDITIONS

First Editions

A small standing section of firsts. Stock varies; phone the shop for a specific title and Joanna will check the shelf.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

ARTS + CRAFTS

Arts, Crafts & Architecture

Wood engravings (C.E. Tunnicliffe in stock), wood-work, carving, pottery, sewing, plus architecture monographs.

Stock rotates · phone for a specific title

A full alphabetical list, from Auto/Biographies through to Welsh Fiction, sits at the visit card. Phone the shop for a particular title and Joanna will check the shelf before you travel.

IN THE WINDOW THIS WEEK · A ROTATING TRIO

Three from the window this week.

A King Penguin hardback from the window display at Broadleaf Books, Abergavenny — IN THE WINDOW
A King Penguin hardback

Allen Lane took the inspiration from the German publisher Insel; 76 titles published 1939 to 1959, dust-jacket art by John Piper, Edward Bawden and Barbara Jones.

A C.E. Tunnicliffe wood engraving from the window display at Broadleaf Books, Abergavenny — ON THE COUNTER
A C.E. Tunnicliffe wood engraving

A favourite of the owner. Engraving as a discipline holds its price; the wood-cut shelves keep slim runs of named artists when they appear.

A monograph from the back room from the window display at Broadleaf Books, Abergavenny — THE PHOTOGRAPHY WALL
A monograph from the back room

Customers call this one of the best photography sections they have seen; the back wall holds the larger formats and the long-form monographs.

The trio above is what was on the table when these photographs were taken; the actual window changes most weeks. Phone or call in to see what's there now.

THE SHOP · THREE CHAPTERS SO FAR

A children's stall, Blaenavon, then Monk Street.

Broadleaf Books is owned and run by Joanna Chambers, who has been in the book trade for about fifteen years. The first chapter was a children's bookstall on Abergavenny market. The second was opening the first shop in Blaenavon book town, up the valley. The third, and current, is 16 Monk Street, opposite St Mary's Priory Church in the centre of Abergavenny, where stock has grown to around thirty catalogued sections and a loyal customer base built one book at a time.

Stock is personally selected. Books are kept below online prices where possible. The owner's own favourites are photography and natural history, with a particular love for wood engraving (a C.E. Tunnicliffe is in stock as of writing). The window garden is left wild on the "don't mow, let it grow" principle, which says most of what needs saying about the temperament running the shop.

"A bookshop as bookshops should be, with that classic book scent that can't be found anywhere else. One to lose yourself in and stumble upon something unexpected but wonderful."
Linus Harrison, on The Book Guide

SELL TO BROADLEAF · SINGLE BOOKS TO WHOLE COLLECTIONS

Sell your books to Broadleaf.

Broadleaf actively buys good quality, interesting books from customers, single hardbacks through to whole collections. As the news log on the live site puts it, many charity shops will no longer accept books and tend to only put popular novels on their shelves. We are looking for the kind of books you yourselves would think of buying.

Single books, at the counter, valuation on the spot.
Boxes, pull up on the pavement outside the shop, ideally not on a Tuesday.
Whole collections, phone or email first so the shop can talk it through.
Estates, careful and fair, paid by bank transfer.

Subjects always sought: history, science, philosophy, folklore and myth, photographic monographs, Folio publications, country life, farming, politics, children's books, and anything else the shop might suit.

OPENING HOURS

When the door is open.

Tuesday: 10:00 - 16:00
Wednesday: 10:00 - 16:00
Thursday: Closed
Friday: 10:00 - 16:00
Saturday: 10:00 - 16:00
Sunday: Closed (opens for the Abergavenny Food Festival weekend each September)
Monday: Closed

A four-day week. Monday and Thursday closed in the usual run of the year. The shop opens for the Sunday of the Abergavenny Food Festival weekend each September.

BROADLEAF BOOKS

16 Monk Street
Abergavenny.

Find us: On Cross Street, the Angel Hotel sits at the bottom of town. On the railings opposite, a sign points to Broadleaf. Follow the arrow on to Monk Street; the shop is down on the left, opposite St Mary's Priory Church.
Phone: 01873 857127
Post: Broadleaf Books, 16 Monk Street, Abergavenny, NP7 5NP
Email: broadleaf12@aol.com
Online: Bookseller on AbeBooks since 2003, member id 2946694.

THE FULL LIST · THE SHOP'S OWN TAXONOMY

Around thirty sections, in the order they sit on the floor.

QUESTIONS THE COUNTER ANSWERS MOST

Five questions worth answering up front.

For anything not here, the shop is on the phone four days a week.

Do you sell online? +

Yes, since 2003, through AbeBooks under bookseller id 2946694. From this rebuild forward, the shop's own broadleafbookshop.co.uk also lists the sections that turn over fastest and a "this week in the window" trio refreshed monthly.

Will you buy my books? +

Yes, and we encourage you to ring before taking them to a charity shop. Many charity shops will no longer accept books, and Broadleaf is set up for serious collections. Cars can pull up on the pavement outside the shop, ideally not on a Tuesday. Subjects always sought: history, science, philosophy, folklore and myth, photography monographs, Folio publications, country life, farming, politics, children's books.

Do you take requests for rare titles? +

Yes. The shop has shipped esoteric titles as far as Australia, where ours was the only listing for a rare Australian-published book worldwide. Email or phone with the title, the author and (if you have it) the publisher and year.

Where exactly are you? +

On Abergavenny's main street, Cross Street, find the Angel Hotel at the bottom of town. On the railings opposite, a sign points to Broadleaf Books. Follow the arrow on to Monk Street; the shop is down on the left, opposite St Mary's Priory Church.

What are your hours? +

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Closed Monday, Thursday and Sunday in the usual run of the year. We open on the Sunday of the Abergavenny Food Festival weekend each September.