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India’s Oldest Bookstore.
Over 185 years ago a young Englishman Abel Joshua Higginbotham decided to travel to India to try his fortune in the British Colony.
Higginbotham’s mother died when he was 12, and he was in the care of missionaries of the Church of Scotland. He became a seaman after he completed school. The vagaries of the sea, and the rough life, evidently didn’t appeal to him. When he tried to abandon his ship and travel to India, he was caught and compelled to serve out his apprenticeship.
After landing in the port city of Madras, he found employment as a store manager of Wesleyan Book Shop, Madras . The store catered to local theologians and largely sold religious works. Abel was a sincere and dedicated worker, but the mission was losing money.
In 1844, when they decided to shut the store, they offered Higginbotham the option of buying out the stock. He bought the shop and renamed it ‘Higginbothams’.
The store gained popularity for its quality of books and diversity of subjects, Abel was adept at tracking down and procuring rare and in-demand books.
A guide book published in 1859 by John Murray titled Presidencies of Madras and Bombay listed Higginbothams as a ‘premier book shop’.
For old-timers residing in Chennai, it was where they bought their first book. The classic chequered flooring, its high arches or the wooden railings – Higginbothams brings fond memories to the people of Chennai.
The bookstore once served royals, Prime Ministers, and Institutions for more than a century.
India’s oldest bookstore is still in business after 180 years. Higginbotham’s opened its first bookstore in Bangalore at M.G. Road in 1905 in a two-storey Graeco-Roman-style building constructed in 1897. This is the oldest bookstore in existence in the city.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 provided Europe with direct access to Asia. The three-month journey from England to India was reduced to three weeks. Trade and tourism increased and ships carrying foreign goods arrived quickly. Large crates for Higginbothams were being offloaded at the Madras port. They contained precious cargo – books and publications that were topping the bestseller lists in Europe.
Higginbothams was India’s largest bookstore chain in the 19th century.
History has it that Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was a voracious reader. Higginbothams was also appointed as his official bookseller when he visited India in 1876. They were called upon to provide the prince with appropriate reading material following his arrival at the Royapuram Station in Madras. This led the bookshop to attract a large number of elite clientele.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Higginbothams had already become the official book supplier for the government and expanded to publishing with cookbooks. Their customers ranged from the British Prime Minister Clement Atlee to the Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar.
Mulligatawny Soup and Madras Curry Powder became legacies of the British Raj only after Higginbothams first printed their recipes.
A J Higginbotham passed away in 1891, leaving his son C H Higginbotham, in charge. He went on to spread this legacy across south India. The bookshop shifted to its present location at Mount road (now Anna Salai). The white building is one of the landmark and heritage structures in the city.
By the 1940s, it had stalls at the Central Railway Station in Chennai, and the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station in Kochi, making books accessible to travellers.
After Independence, in 1949, S Anantharamakrishnan of the Amalgamations Group took over the bookstore.
Regional language publications have always been dear to Higginbothams. The Chennai showroom has an exclusive section for Tamil books. At present, the Higginbothams group has more than 20 stores spread across South India.
The Chennai store holds a special place in history as the first and the oldest bookstore, with an ambience that takes you back to a time long gone.
( adapted )
