About

Topping & Company are a family-run independent booksellers with bookshops in Bath, Ely, Edinburgh and St Andrews. Robert and Louise Topping opened their first bookshop in Ely (Cambridgeshire) in 2002, followed by the Bath in 2007, then St Andrew’s in 2014, and a large bookshop in Edinburgh in 2019. They are now based in the beautiful building on York Street, which has allowed them to expand over two floors and a gallery - becoming the biggest independent bookshop in England to open in living memory. They have a focus on author events, hosting an Autumn Literary Festival which runs from September to December every year, and an emphasis on the value of bookseller knowledge and enthusiasm.

In 2021 Topping & Company Bath moved from the Paragon to York Street in the heart of the city, next door to the Bath Abbey. The bookshop is now housed in the impressive Georgian building on York street, formerly known as the Friends Meeting House. Operating as a bookshop is the latest
chapter in the building's rich history: it was initially designed as a Masonic Hall in 1817 by William Wilkins, architect of The National Gallery, was used as an assembly room and non-conformist chapel during the 1830s, and has since been in the hands of the Religious Society of Friends. It is a listed building of significant architectural heritage, being one of the few examples of the Greek revival style remaining in Bath and one of the few places you can view the incredible Ralph Allen Townhouse.

The bookshop houses handcrafted bookcases and Topping & Company Booksellers’ signature rolling library ladders lining two floors and a gallery. Expanding has allowed an increase of the number of titles stocked to over 75,000 and an unparalleled selection of fiction, children’s books, cookery
writing, history and much more.

The new bookshop still offers complimentary pots of fresh tea and coffee as you browse and friendly, bookish advice from a much larger team of expert booksellers. What’s more, being a bookshop with a focus on live author events, the move has meant that the bookshop can host much bigger events in the building itself. They have already hosted authors such as Nigel Slater, Elizabeth Day, Michael McIntyre, Florence Given, and Yotam Ottolenghi since opening in the new bookshop, and have hosted names such as Sally Rooney, Margaret Atwood, David Attenborough, and Buzz Aldrin in previous years.