History of Lucius Books

Lucius Books are specialist dealers in important books in many fields, with an emphasis on first editions, signed and inscribed copies and manuscripts.

Lucius has been trading in rare books since 1993, when James Hallgate started to buy and sell crime fiction first editions in the north east of England. Lucius have steadily broadened their reach, travelling worldwide in search of the rare and unusual, from local fairs to the monthly London bookfairs and venturing shortly afterwards to New York, California and Hong Kong.

By 2003, Lucius had opened at 50 Fossgate, York, moving to number 41 in 2006 and on the 1st of October 2012 into number 37. We relocated to larger premises at 144 Micklegate in January 2019, during which time the opportunity to acquire number 70 (previously Ken Spelman Booksellers) arose. After a three year restoration project, we moved into this beautiful four storey Grade II* listed building in April 2026.

Lucius are proud members of the ABA and abide by their strict code of conduct. All items offered for sale are researched in depth and unconditionally guaranteed to be as described.