After exploring the world of second hand books in Brockley and Notting Hill, we’re back to books. And, this time, they’re about as far as second hand as you can get.
This is Maison Assouline, publishers of luxury coffee table books, plus a side-line in candles, designer book stands, model boats, and a bespoke service for creating private libraries (Celine Dion is a client).
Maison Assouline was born in Paris in 1994. Fast-forward to now, they have published just under 2,000 titles, and they are celebrating their 30 years anniversary with a collaboration with Pantone and the creation of Assouline Red (“a full-bodied warm red with a hint of yellow”).
At a glance...
The books of Maison Assouline
Maison Assouline publishes coffee table books.
Big, fat, heavy coffee table books that are everything you’d expect from a coffee table book. (Also: expensive. Think a few thousand pounds, for some of them.)
Stylish covers? Check. (I love the cloth bound travel ones, with their colourful minimalist graphics and matching candles). Gorgeous photography? Oh, yes. Luxury lifestyle topics? Well, there are books on yachts, watches, upscale travel, haute couture (there’s a long-running collaboration with the House of Dior), fast cars, architecture, style icons (from Frida Kahlo to Barbie) and gastronomy, and camels, and synagogues, and Japanese art, and petroleum art, and wine, champagne and whisky, and… well, have a look for yourself on the Assouline website.
Some of them really are work of art in themselves: take the rubber-scented history of Formula One, for example. Or the book on gold housed in a gold leaf case with a generous sprinkle of gold flakes on the lid. (Real gold? Who knows…). The most jaw dropping is probably “Versailles: From Louis XIV to Jeff Koons”: a velvet bound affair with a large gold (definitely not real gold, that one…) medallion of Louis XIV on the front. Out of print on the Assouline website, but you can nab a copy on Amazon for £18,000.
The Maison Assouline space
The Maison Assouline flagship store in London is in St James, on Piccadilly, a stone’s throw from Fortnum and Mason, the Ritz and the Royal Academy of Arts. A more perfect address probably could not have been found…
The building has pedigree. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens between the wars for Midland Bank (click here to see a lovely drawing of the original design on the RIBA site). Then it became a space for Swiss Art gallery Hauser & Wirth until 2013.
The Swan bar at Maison Assouline
And Maison Assouline is not just about books. Peek behind the bookcases, and you’ll see a cocktail bar in the back. In fact, the bar takes up more space than the shop. It’s a gorgeous space. The building is Grade 2 listed, and retains the original wood panelling, and the feeling is one of the old-fashioned elegance of a very British member’s only club.
It’s an impressive drinks list, too: sophisticated cocktails, Champagne, Gins, about 70 different varieties of whiskeys (yes, I counted), rum, cognac, tequila, and… well, there’s more, but you get the idea. Oh yeah, they do have fruit juices, mineral water and a few coffees. Tea, too, and nibbles. Caviar? But of course. And there’s Foie Gras on Poilâne Toast, if caviar is not your thing. (And Baba Ganoush. Mmmm, baba ganoush.)
The rest of the space is taken by an eclectic collection of objets d’art, photographs and model boats: an all-round cabinet of curiosities, and you can buy it all.
There you go. Maison Assouline: probably James Bond favourite shop…
Where to go from there?
You know where you can find some more exquisite things to create your very own collection of unique treasures? Alfie’s Antique Market, that’s where…
If you’re hungry after all that browsing, and you’re broke after buying the books, Tokyo Diner is not far at all, and Buns From Home is even closer – a two minutes walk max, you don’t even have to cross the street!
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Visiting Maison Assouline: useful information
Address: 196A Piccadilly, St. James’s, W1J 9EY
How to get there: the nearest tube stops are Green Park (Jubilee line, Piccadilly line, Victoria line) and Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo line, Piccadilly line)
Opening Hours: open 6 days a week, closed on Sundays. Swan bar has longer opening hours than the shop, but it’s also closed Sundays. (Please check the exact hours on the website.)
Website: https://www.maisonassouline.com/
Maison Assouline on Google Maps
