The first bookshop opened by a member of the Blackwell family was in Oxford in 1846.
We take the year of 1879 as our founding since it was on 1st January of that year that our now world-famous bookshop on Broad Street, Oxford first opened its doors and we have been trading continuously from there ever since.
1879 was the year that Thomas Edison created the first lightbulb, Broad Street was cobbled and, no doubt, filled with the sound of hooves clipping along it.
Since then we have grown to become more than just one bookshop, with a chain of 30 bookshops serving not only individual customers but also a host of libraries, universities, businesses and government departments.
Blackwell’s can be found in a range of cities across the UK, including Oxford, Edinburgh, Cambridge (Heffers), London, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Aberdeen.
Our online bookshop reflects the knowledge and passion of our Booksellers and offers 18 million titles for order, as well as free UK delivery.