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Scotland has some fantastic secondhand and antiquarian bookshop. Hannah Adcock browses through some of her favourites

If there is one word to sum up the secondhand book buying business – and this is asking a lot – it is serendipity.

So often you go in to a secondhand bookshop with a title in mind before leaving with something unexpected and far superior. The internet and chain stores can offer a certain kind of bookbuying experience, but they can never rival the secondhand bookshop as a place to idle away a few hours (or days) before luck intervenes and you find yourself clutching the perfect volume.

One of Scotland's hidden secrets is its great wealth of secondhand bookshops. Edinburgh alone had 30 at the last count. To cover them all is impossible, but I've selected a few of my favourites to help you on your way.

McNaughtan's Bookshop in Edinburgh, owned by Elizabeth Strong, was established in 1957 and is probably the longest established business of its kind in Scotland. The shop offers an impressive choice of quality antiquarian and secondhand books on a wide-range of subjects, being particularly strong on illustrated children's books, art and architecture.

Two of the star tomes of the shop contain exquisite examples of needlework by Parisian schoolchildren, painstakingly stitched in the years 1913-15. Professionals and academics are regulars at McNaughtans, perhaps attracted by the dignified atmosphere, which has been enhanced in recent decades.

It is refreshing to find a bookshop, which has evolved in such a cohesive manner.

Even the copper pipe used to divert floodwater from ...

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• By : Hannah Adcock
• In : Contemporary Scotland
• Issue : 27
• Page : 28
• Words : 1,234