HUNGERFORD ARCADE AND MARCH HOUSE BOOKS

We had a wonderful lady visit us at Hungerford Arcade, her name is Barbara Fisher.  Barbara is a fascinating lady with a love of books.  So much so, we had to write and tell you about her.

Barbara started her own book company in 1993, March House Books and it has grown to be one of the premier suppliers of rare and out-of-print children’s and illustrated books.  The website is beautiful so do take a look. www.marchhousebooks.com I will let Barbara tell you how it all started.
Rita

My love of books and book shops began when I was a little girl. My dad collected back issues of the National Geographic Magazine and most Saturday mornings would find the two of us in the local second-hand book shop. Most of my ‘pocket money’ was spent in that shop and by the time I was a teenager I had a large and varied collection of books. As I got older most of them were lent to other people, given away or sold at car boot sales. Years later, a friend gave me a pile of old magazines and flicking through them, I came across an article about collecting children’s books and from that moment on, I was hooked. Nostalgia took over and I decided there and then to try to find all my childhood favourites.  Most of my books had been given away or sold at car boot sales and I only had a couple of very battered Enid Blyton’s to start my collection with.  I began by visiting charity shops and made one or two wonderful discoveries but felt frustrated because more often than not I would come home with nothing.  It wasn’t long before I started to visit every book fair, car boot and garage sale I could find and eventually plucked up the courage to attend a book auction. It was a revelation – now I could buy books in boxes not just in ones or twos!  BUT (there’s always one of those!)  I now had a new problem – what to do with all the books I didn’t want? With a great deal of fear and trepidation, I approached a local book fair manager to see how to go about renting a table and before long I was participating at my first book fair as a seller rather than a buyer.  My next venture was to produce a catalogue and then try selling ‘a few books on line’.  That was in 1995.

Barbara Fisher

Founded in 1993 by Barbara Fisher, March House Books has grown to be one of the premier suppliers of rare and out-of-print children’s and illustrated books. You can contact Barbara if would like more information about a particular book or books. Telephone +44 (0)1963 364403 or email books@marchhousebooks.com

Barbara and I with her book purchased from Hungerford Arcade