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33°55′30″S 18°24′59″E / 33.925107°S 18.416519°E / -33.925107; 18.416519

Clarke's Bookshop
IndustryBookshop
FoundedNovember 1957 (1957-11)
FounderAnthony Clarke
HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
Number of locations
1
Websiteclarkesbooks.co.za

Clarke's Bookshop is an independent bookstore located in Long Street, Cape Town. Opened in 1957[a] by former British army officer Anthony Clarke, the business specializes in Africana books largely surrounding Southern Africa, and sells new, used, antiquarian and out-of-print products. It also supplies material on African studies to several international institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Columbia University and Yale University. The Irish Independent ranked Clarke's Bookshop among the 'The 10 Best Bookstores in the World' in 2009.[6]

History

Anthony Clarke

Clarke's Bookshop was opened in November 1957[a] as a second-hand bookstore.[7] It was founded by Anthony "Tony" Clarke MC who had served as an officer in the 1st regiment Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army.[8][9][10] Clarke had become known for [...] Piero della Francesca's fresco painting The Resurrection in 1944 during the Italian Campaign.[11][8] A suburban street in Sansepolcro was named after Clarke,[11] and an 18th century print of the same painting remains on display in Clarke's Bookshop.[8]

The business began specializing in Africana books from the 1970s.[5] Paul Mills became a co-owner in 1978.[12] Henrietta Dax began working at the bookshop in 1981 shortly before Clarke's death, and later became the sole owner of the business in 1998 following Mills's departure.[13][14] Her work involved regularly embarking on 4000-mile road trips throughout Southern Africa in which she bought, sold and bartered.[15] She is credited with expanding the business to include new, first-hand books alongside its second-hand material.[7] Dax also initiated the business's supply of African studies material to various international universities.[15] Clarke's Bookshop has since distributed resources to Columbia University,[16] Yale University,[17][15] the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art,[1][18] and Leiden University's African Studies Centre.[18] In 1995, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) listed Clarke's Bookshop among the "best dealers" for materials relating to Southern Africa.[19] The business also supplies provincial libraries within the Western Cape, and is noted to stock antiquarian maps and old prints.[20]

Facing potential closure after its lease wasn't renewed in two years, the business relocated to another building within the same block in Long Street.[21][22] Due to financial strain amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the bookstore conducted a fundraising auction featuring works by William Kentridge, Jane Alexander, Brett Murray, Sanell Aggenbach, and Penny Siopis among others.[23][24] Having worked Clarke's Bookshop since 2003,[25] Andre Sales became co-director of the business in 2020.[26][23] Politicians such as current President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa[27][28] and former Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe[22] are frequent customers at the bookstore.[25]

Awards

  • 2002 – Merit Award (South African Booksellers Association)[29]
  • 2009 – No. 4 on 'The 10 Best Bookstores in the World' (Irish Independent)[6]
  • 2016 – Henrietta Dax awarded 'Lifetime’s Contribution to Bookselling in South Africa' (South African Booksellers Association)[30][31]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Most sources state that the bookstore was opened in 1956,[1][2] but some, including the business's official website, claim it was established in 1957.[3][4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Pasipanodya, Chiedza (23 February 2020). "Clarke's Bookshop: The art world through books". The Art Momentum. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  2. ^ Mulgrew, Nick (21 May 2019). "Independent bookstores to support in (almost) every corner of South Africa". PEN South Africa. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Clarke's Bookshop". Clarke's Bookshop. Archived from the original on 28 March 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025. Clarke's Bookshop has been in Long Street in the centre of Cape Town since 1957.
  4. ^ Zell, Hans M. (2 June 2022). "Women in African Publishing & the Book Trade: A Series of Profiles – Series II". The African Book Publishing Record. 48 (2): 112–153. doi:10.1515/abpr-2022-0004. ISSN 1865-8717.
  5. ^ a b Stamp, Elizabeth (2023). 150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before you Die. Tielt: Lannoo Publishers (published 20 April 2023). p. 17. ISBN 9401489351.
  6. ^ a b Dromey, Derbhile (8 June 2009). "10 best bookshops in the world". Irish Independent. ISSN 0021-1222. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b Sales, Andre (14 March 2017). "Bookshop of the Month: March". Books Combined. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Willers, David (9 July 2024). "A love letter to Long Street: A reader's impression". LitNet. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  9. ^ Havely, Nick (2024). Apennine Crossings: Travellers on the Edge of Tuscany. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780198882626. A British officer, Anthony Clarke of the 1st regiment Royal Horse Artillery, was directing the guns but his memory was troubling him [...]. Clarke's story dates from some years after the war, when he was running a bookshop in Cape Town...
  10. ^ "No. 35665". The London Gazette. 13 August 1942. p. 3544.
  11. ^ a b Butcher, Tim (24 December 2011). "The man who saved The Resurrection". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  12. ^ Markham, Sheila (December 2010). "Paul Mills". The Bookdealer. Retrieved 31 May 2025 – via Sheila Markham: in conversation.
  13. ^ O’Toole, Sean (7 November 2023). "Shelf Reliance". The World of Interiors. Condé Nast. ISSN 0264-083X. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Legends in Bookselling - Still doing business". South African Booksellers Association. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  15. ^ a b c Arnold, Martin (2 March 2000). "Making Books; A Literary Peddler Plies the Trade Routes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  16. ^ "Africana Librarianship, Book Dealers, Projects & Publishers". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  17. ^ "January's International Bookshop of the Month is Clarke's Bookshop". Yale University Press. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2025. We supply books to multiple university libraries with African Studies material, including Yale University Library, which has really helped us through the last few years
  18. ^ a b Beale, Nigel (17 June 2009). "The Biblio File hosted by Nigel Beale: Henrietta Dax on Clarke's Bookshop, Cape Town". The Biblio File. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  19. ^ Kagan, Alfred (August 1995). "Sources for African Language Materials from the Countries of Anglophone Africa - 61st IFLA General Conference". International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  20. ^ Mzizi, Simangele (31 July 2023). "Cape Town CBD's best bookish haunts". Cape Town Central City Improvement District. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  21. ^ Carpenter, Avery (14 December 2011). "Clarke's writes itself back into Long Street". Independent Online. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  22. ^ a b Meersman, Brent (16 August 2013). "A bookshop's new chapter, different setting". Mail & Guardian. ISSN 2075-8383. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  23. ^ a b Oberholzer, Sanet (28 May 2020). "Clarke's Bookshop fights to keep its doors open". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  24. ^ Jacobs, Kirsten (29 May 2020). "Clarke's Bookshop runs online auction to keep doors open". Cape Town ETC. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  25. ^ a b "The Bookseller: André Sales – Clarke's Bookshop". Aerodrome. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  26. ^ Shoba, Sandisiwe; Simelane, Bheki C. (31 August 2020). "Covid-19 lockdown impact: A tale of two streets – Long Street and Vilakazi Street". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  27. ^ Mitchell, Andrew (25 February 2020). "Commons Diary: Andrew Mitchell". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 2 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  28. ^ Pople, Laetitia (13 May 2020). "Veiling help Clarke's Books in Langstraat, Kaapstad". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  29. ^ "The Dressing Station voted tops by SA booksellers" (PDF). Sunday Argus. November 2002. p. 5. Retrieved 2 June 2025 – via The Cape Provincial Library Service. Merit awards went to two specialist booksellers: Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town for its focus on special interest books and its success in developing an export business...
  30. ^ "Henrietta Dax Recognised for Her Contribution to Bookselling in South Africa". PEN South Africa. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  31. ^ "New Sefika Award honours legends in bookselling industry, new author". Bizcommunity. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2025.


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