McNaughtan's Bookshop
@mcnaughtans.co.uk
Rare & second-hand bookshop in central Edinburgh, est. 1957.
Open every day 11am to 5pm, and till 8pm on Thursdays.
Open every day 11am to 5pm, and till 8pm on Thursdays.
An 18-year-old Michael Moorcock imagines internet newspaper subscriptions on the editorial page of Tarzan Adventures vol. 7 no. 49
October 1, 2026 at 12:52 PM
An 18-year-old Michael Moorcock imagines internet newspaper subscriptions on the editorial page of Tarzan Adventures vol. 7 no. 49
All set up for the September PBFA one-day Edinburgh Book Fair! We’re in the Augustine Church on George IV Bridge until 4pm today only.
September 19, 2026 at 9:34 AM
All set up for the September PBFA one-day Edinburgh Book Fair! We’re in the Augustine Church on George IV Bridge until 4pm today only.
Hive mind gather round! Do you recognise this man on the right? He was likely an actor, perhaps a director, and worked with Beckett, almost certainly on a British production of Waiting for Godot. The photograph we can roughly date to sometime between 1956-1970.
September 18, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Hive mind gather round! Do you recognise this man on the right? He was likely an actor, perhaps a director, and worked with Beckett, almost certainly on a British production of Waiting for Godot. The photograph we can roughly date to sometime between 1956-1970.
Had to wait 30 minutes to get a clear shot of our stand between crowds here at the York Book Fair - open today until 7pm and back again Saturday!
September 11, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Had to wait 30 minutes to get a clear shot of our stand between crowds here at the York Book Fair - open today until 7pm and back again Saturday!
From the boards of Alasdair Gray’s 1983 collection ‘Unlikely Stories, Mostly’ and later slightly adapted for the wall of the Scottish Parliament; Gray himself always acknowledged he had paraphrased it from Canadian poet Dennis Lee.
September 6, 2026 at 10:17 AM
From the boards of Alasdair Gray’s 1983 collection ‘Unlikely Stories, Mostly’ and later slightly adapted for the wall of the Scottish Parliament; Gray himself always acknowledged he had paraphrased it from Canadian poet Dennis Lee.
After a busy August, we are busy refilling the shelves, so here’s a peek at this week’s recently priced secondhand. Here’s to autumn and all the cosy evenings of reading ahead!
September 3, 2026 at 11:10 AM
After a busy August, we are busy refilling the shelves, so here’s a peek at this week’s recently priced secondhand. Here’s to autumn and all the cosy evenings of reading ahead!
One of our latests lists is devoted entirely to James Joyce material— first and early editions and publications, letters, scholarship, and even this gorgeous children’s book based on a letter Joyce wrote to his grandson, inspired by a French folk tale.
August 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
One of our latests lists is devoted entirely to James Joyce material— first and early editions and publications, letters, scholarship, and even this gorgeous children’s book based on a letter Joyce wrote to his grandson, inspired by a French folk tale.
We take a lot of pride in parcelling books safely and securely for their journey to your home library— here you can see a gathering of parcels destined for customers near and far. Whether you order online or build a stack here in the shop that exceeds your luggage limit, we’ve got you covered!
August 27, 2026 at 11:19 AM
We take a lot of pride in parcelling books safely and securely for their journey to your home library— here you can see a gathering of parcels destined for customers near and far. Whether you order online or build a stack here in the shop that exceeds your luggage limit, we’ve got you covered!
Before becoming a bookseller, I already loved marbled paper, but in handling more and more antiquarian books, I have become incredibly fond of paste-paper— pictured here as the endpapers in this eighteenth-century binding.
August 26, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Before becoming a bookseller, I already loved marbled paper, but in handling more and more antiquarian books, I have become incredibly fond of paste-paper— pictured here as the endpapers in this eighteenth-century binding.
There’s been a complete power cut to the shop which means we’ve had to close early. We’ll be back open from 11am on Saturday 22nd.
August 21, 2026 at 2:14 PM
There’s been a complete power cut to the shop which means we’ve had to close early. We’ll be back open from 11am on Saturday 22nd.
A whole pack of pelicans has flown onto our shelves! Best come by and browse them where they’re perched above fiction before they take flight again!
August 14, 2026 at 11:49 AM
A whole pack of pelicans has flown onto our shelves! Best come by and browse them where they’re perched above fiction before they take flight again!
As the first weekend of Fringe kicks off, we thought we’d highlight some lovely little secondhand treasures in our drama section. Wishing everyone an excellent festival season!
August 8, 2026 at 2:26 PM
As the first weekend of Fringe kicks off, we thought we’d highlight some lovely little secondhand treasures in our drama section. Wishing everyone an excellent festival season!
Does anybody recognise this view? It’s from a late-Victorian collection of photographs undergoing cataloguing, with the bulk of the other 100+ images being of places in Edinburgh, Fife or the Borders. This one has me stumped though. Any leads gratefully received.
August 3, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Does anybody recognise this view? It’s from a late-Victorian collection of photographs undergoing cataloguing, with the bulk of the other 100+ images being of places in Edinburgh, Fife or the Borders. This one has me stumped though. Any leads gratefully received.
Thought we’d hop on the Odyssey bandwagon and share the copy on our shelves at the moment— the first duodecimo printing of Pope’s landmark translation, printed over 1725-1726 in five volumes. The fifth volume also includes Pope’s translation of Homer’s Battle of the Frogs and Mice.
July 25, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Thought we’d hop on the Odyssey bandwagon and share the copy on our shelves at the moment— the first duodecimo printing of Pope’s landmark translation, printed over 1725-1726 in five volumes. The fifth volume also includes Pope’s translation of Homer’s Battle of the Frogs and Mice.
Some gorgeous books that are about to migrate from the sunny window to the shelves— there’s everything from fairy tales to Scottish poetry, with iconic children’s books and books on brewing and insects for good measure.
July 23, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Some gorgeous books that are about to migrate from the sunny window to the shelves— there’s everything from fairy tales to Scottish poetry, with iconic children’s books and books on brewing and insects for good measure.
Things found in books, an occasional series: a purchase receipt from @quaritch1847.bsky.social , dated 1899, in this 1888 angling book.
July 20, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Things found in books, an occasional series: a purchase receipt from @quaritch1847.bsky.social , dated 1899, in this 1888 angling book.
One of the pleasures of working with secondhand books is that our shelf divisions and categories are in a constant state of flux to serve our ever-changing stock. We’ve been lucky to get our hands on a comprehensive collection of social history focusing on the early modern period in Europe.
July 18, 2026 at 12:26 PM
One of the pleasures of working with secondhand books is that our shelf divisions and categories are in a constant state of flux to serve our ever-changing stock. We’ve been lucky to get our hands on a comprehensive collection of social history focusing on the early modern period in Europe.
Austen Alert!!
It’s incredibly rare that we have not just one, not just two, but all six of Jane Austen’s finished novels, both as individual copies and as a handsome 1940s set printed in Oxford.
So head down to the shop or email us if you’re too far to browse in person.
It’s incredibly rare that we have not just one, not just two, but all six of Jane Austen’s finished novels, both as individual copies and as a handsome 1940s set printed in Oxford.
So head down to the shop or email us if you’re too far to browse in person.
July 16, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Austen Alert!!
It’s incredibly rare that we have not just one, not just two, but all six of Jane Austen’s finished novels, both as individual copies and as a handsome 1940s set printed in Oxford.
So head down to the shop or email us if you’re too far to browse in person.
It’s incredibly rare that we have not just one, not just two, but all six of Jane Austen’s finished novels, both as individual copies and as a handsome 1940s set printed in Oxford.
So head down to the shop or email us if you’re too far to browse in person.
The sunlight struck this shelf of stunning bindings so perfectly as we opened the shop this morning. Couldn’t help but capture the moment, after a dozen or so attempts.
July 10, 2026 at 10:58 AM
The sunlight struck this shelf of stunning bindings so perfectly as we opened the shop this morning. Couldn’t help but capture the moment, after a dozen or so attempts.
A gathering of some intriguing and oft-asked-for titles from our recently priced secondhand. As we welcome a few more days of the rarefied Scottish summer, why not browse the shelves for a book to act as a sun shade while lying in the grass?
July 9, 2026 at 5:25 PM
A gathering of some intriguing and oft-asked-for titles from our recently priced secondhand. As we welcome a few more days of the rarefied Scottish summer, why not browse the shelves for a book to act as a sun shade while lying in the grass?
In the absence of an index, simply read the book cover to cover several times, advises William Robb, enfeebled author.
July 4, 2026 at 3:56 PM
In the absence of an index, simply read the book cover to cover several times, advises William Robb, enfeebled author.
Some striking patterned wrappers and boards from books around the shop today.
July 2, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Some striking patterned wrappers and boards from books around the shop today.
A delightfully louche advert for Jay Landesman’s Polytantric Press, advertising their new Soho home, from the rear of a 1978 poetry journal. The Fingertip Massage Parlour is long gone, although the St Moritz Club seems to still be there. Polytantric’s office is now an opticians.
June 27, 2026 at 11:45 AM
A delightfully louche advert for Jay Landesman’s Polytantric Press, advertising their new Soho home, from the rear of a 1978 poetry journal. The Fingertip Massage Parlour is long gone, although the St Moritz Club seems to still be there. Polytantric’s office is now an opticians.
Don’t you hate it when you run out of fleur-de-lis ornamental type and you have to sneak in a wee thistle?
Whether done on purpose or by accident, this little variation by a seventeenth century printer has delighted this bookseller today.
Whether done on purpose or by accident, this little variation by a seventeenth century printer has delighted this bookseller today.
June 26, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Don’t you hate it when you run out of fleur-de-lis ornamental type and you have to sneak in a wee thistle?
Whether done on purpose or by accident, this little variation by a seventeenth century printer has delighted this bookseller today.
Whether done on purpose or by accident, this little variation by a seventeenth century printer has delighted this bookseller today.
Behold! The National Monument as it could have been!
Enjoying the illustrations in this 1906 appeal to the Scottish people to join the author’s call for funds from the government to complete the acropolis on Calton Hill.
Enjoying the illustrations in this 1906 appeal to the Scottish people to join the author’s call for funds from the government to complete the acropolis on Calton Hill.
June 25, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Behold! The National Monument as it could have been!
Enjoying the illustrations in this 1906 appeal to the Scottish people to join the author’s call for funds from the government to complete the acropolis on Calton Hill.
Enjoying the illustrations in this 1906 appeal to the Scottish people to join the author’s call for funds from the government to complete the acropolis on Calton Hill.