Pom Harrington

Spear’s Review

Pom Harrington is the second-generation owner of Peter Harrington Rare Books, but he didn’t set out to be a book dealer. He tells Spear’s: ‘I started at the shop as a “Saturday boy” when I was about 14, and I don’t think I would ever have imagined then that I would be taking over the reins of the business, heading two bookshops and a staff of over 60.’

Harrington says a particular highlight is the discovery of a first edition of Frankenstein inscribed by Mary Shelley to Lord Byron, which sold for £350,000. He believes that the value of a rare book is fundamentally personal and treasures the relationship between a dealer and the customer, whether it’s online or in his shops in Chelsea and Mayfair.

‘I have to confess my interest and love of the book is the object,’ he says. ‘It’s what the book represents and the story behind that particular copy that I find special.’