Donlon Books is an independent bookshop located at 75 Broadway Market in the diverse creative community of London’s Borough of Hackney. Since opening in 2008, Donlon Books has developed a reputation for offering an idiosyncratic selection of books, periodicals and printed matter.
 
The shop’s stock covers a wide-range of subjects, including popular music and sound art, philosophy and critical theory, art theory, esoterica, fashion design, and gay and erotica, but its particular speciality is artists’ bookworks and photobooks.
 
Starting at Herald St Gallery, London, Donlon Books moved to 210 Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green where, from 2009-2010, it shared the space with X Marks the Bökship - the Bökship, a project space for independent publishers, remains at the address. In 2010 Donlon Books moved to its current Broadway Market premises.
 
We hand-pick much of our stock directly from independent publishers, book fairs, or research trips abroad. Do not always expect to find the most up-to-date monograph at Donlon Books - many other, bigger retailers can offer that. Rather, we endeavor to stock those hard to find titles which are harder to find through the normal modes of distribution.
 
Donlon Books supports and promotes a culture of artists’ book publishing by regularly hosting book launches, readings, screenings and curated window displays at the Broadway Market shop. In the past year we have hosted many launches by, among others, Wolfgang Tillmans, Stephen Gill, Sara MacKillop, Jean-Michel Wicker, Paul Buck, David Noonan, and David Armstrong. In 2013 we published our first book, under the imprint Donlon Books, about the stolen library books of British playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell.
 
The shop supplies publications to university libraries and special collections, and designs libraries from scratch for individuals and organisations. We also source hard to find books - if there is a particular book you are having trouble finding please contact us as we most probably will be able to source it. Our website displays an edited selection of the rare and hard to find titles that we stock. Purchases made online can be shipped throughout the UK, Europe and Overseas, however if you find yourself in London please pay us a visit.