- Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)
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Dark They Were And Golden Eyed[1] in London was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s.[2] Specialising in science fiction, occultism, and Atlantis, the central London shop also played a key role in bringing American underground comics to the UK. It also had US editions of mainstream science fiction books that were not easily obtained anywhere else.
The shop was originally in Bedfordbury before moving to 10 Berwick Street in Soho. It later moved to a much larger ground floor and basement premises in St Anne's Court off Wardour Street in Soho.
History
Started by Derek 'Bram' Stokes, who previously ran the Gothique fanzine but had left to start a science fiction mail order book service.[3] Diane Lister (later Diane Stokes) joined him in 1969. The shop's name is the same as "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed", a short story by Ray Bradbury. The shop was managed by fantasy author Stan Nicholls, who had worked with Stokes on Gothique.[4]
Nick Landau, founder of Forbidden Planet and Titan Entertainment Group, was also a customer and produced a fanzine on the shop's hand-cranked duplicator. The shop was also the semi-official correspondence address for Fortean Times (used from #28 - #35), and the magazine's team met every Tuesday afternoon in a room above the shop. The shop was advertised in #28 of the magazine; the advert was drawn by Bryan Talbot who went on to draw for 2000 AD.
Dark They Were And Golden Eyed closed in 1981.
Legacy
Notable customers included Alan Moore.[5] Mike Lake, another of Forbidden Planet's founders, was employed in Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed, as was Paul Hudson - later of London comic shop Comic Showcase. The shop was a key influence on three bookshops in Manchester run by David Britton and Mike Butterworth: House on the Borderland, Orbit in Shudehill and Bookchain in Peter Street.[6] Adverts were produced for "Dark They Were and Golden Eyed" by James Cawthorn, Illustrator and Author. Jim's adverts, dated 1977 appeared in Time Out and other magazines. His illustrations were also featured on paper carrier bags used by the shop. Jim Cawthorn's graphic novels were published by David Britton's Savoy Press, Manchester.
The second issue of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 3 ("Century: 1969") features an homage, a comics/science fiction/Forteana store called "There Will Come Soft Rains".
References
- ^ Roberts, Peter (21 October 1972). "6th British Comicon". Checkpoint (25). http://checkpoint.ansible.co.uk/cp025.html. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ Nicholls, Stan (December 2004). "Stan Nicholls - an infinity plus profile". infinity plus. self. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/misc/sn.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ Here Be Dragons
- ^ The Write Fantastic
- ^ Read Yourself Raw
- ^ Savage, Jon (May 10, 2008). "Controlled chaos". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/10/popandrock.joydivision. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
Coordinates: 51°30′51.3″N 0°8′3.7″W / 51.51425°N 0.134361°W
Categories:- Comics retailers
- Bookshops in London
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