Martin Latham the bookseller, presented his tale about both his life as a bookseller and his book The Bookseller’s Tale. He gave a most entertaining and enjoyable talk to former Bedford College students and staff.
A former student himself he was introduced by Prof. Caroline Barron who pointed out that Alan Bennett, in his fourth collection of diaries Enough Said, noted on 4th October 2021 ‘Last night I finished The Bookseller’s Tale, an excellent book but there was no mention of Alan Bennett.’ He contacted Martin to say how much he enjoyed it and later made it clear he expected a reply.
Martin was brought up in a large family surrounded by books. His father who had been adopted had not been allowed books at home with the result that as an adult he bought as many of them as he could afford; some of which have proved to be amazing editions. The King’s Book, of Henry VIII, 1543 has been identified as the tenth of the known surviving copies and Plutarch’s Lives 1595 may have been used by Shakespeare. Having completed his History degree at Bedford he went on to a D. Phil at KCL.
He started working in a bookshop in the King’s Road, to supplement his income from lecturing and soon became aware of interesting customers. Having met Tim Waterstone he worked in his High Street Kensington branch where he regularly served Princess Diana. From there he went on to Cheltenham and finally to Waterstones in Canterbury from 1990 to 2025. His shop, rests on the remains of a Roman Bathhouse which Martin managed to have excavated in the basement where it can be seen today. He mused whether this find might have something to do with his father having been a dowser.
Always looking to enhance the experience of his customers, Martin invited Umberto Eco to come and speak. He refused to take up this offer, but instead asked to take on the role of bookseller for the day. The lady who bought Foucault’s Pendulum that day had no notion that she had been served by the author.
Martin went on to describe some of the themes in his book - the impact of women’s reading in the past and lamented that, while politicians can be fun, their books tend to be less exciting. He is particularly interested in the history of books and our relationships with them. Do you keep your books pristine or write in them and fold down pages? What can the marginalia in books tell us especially those of great thinkers like Descartes and Newton? Do you have to finish a book ? The idea of a comfort book, one which we can recognise brings us a sense of wellbeing. This encouraged the audience to share their personal experiences which highlighted the impact of books especially on children.
He finished by drawing attention to the role of serendipity. Virginia Wolf noted how a reader can lose ‘the carapace of self’, to get lost in a book (and also in a bookshop). This raised the question whether we can judge a book by its cover? Martin’s you can, for the illustrator has captured those mentioned in the book - and he also slipped in his ex-girlfriend! The book, now available in paperback, is being translated into other languages including Chinese and Arabic – books and their tales are international.
The event was highly successful on two fronts, not only an engaging and informative talk but also the opportunity to catch up with fellow former students over a coffee and a glass of wine.
