There is nothing better on a grey autumn afternoon than strolling through the city, sipping some good warming coffee, to finally stop over at Demian’s, the charming bookstore located at the magnificent Hendrik Conscienceplein. While the leaves come down falling from the trees there is the gorgeous view of the Carolus Borromeus church and the typical lovely atmosphere of the historic centre of Antwerp.
Just as you can delightfully get lost in the alleys of the ancient heart of the city, you can get lost as well by snoring the book collection at Demian’s. There are always treasures to find, depending on what you like to read. You can find Dutch literature, as well as English, French and German, going from the great classics to contemporary literature, but Demian has also a lot of stunning poetry and art books to offer. And even if you’re interesting in literary archives, this is the place to be.
All pieces are obviously unique, because Demian is not a regular book shop but sells mostly second hand books, of course all selected well – and once visited Demian, you’ll know René, the man who runs the store, has style. He started his own small publishing house a couple of years ago, and collected in this way unique fragments of writers as Jeroen Brouwers, Louis Paul Boon, and young Antwerp talent.
All books you’ll buy here already had a life, which feels different because you’ll never know whose hands turned the pages before, who was blown away by the same story, who cried or laughed while reading it. At Demian the book you’ll buy will be at low price but will be worth a lot more…
Book Store DemianHendrik Conscienceplein 16-182000 Antwerpen
Open Tue – Sat 11am – 6pm+32 (0)3 233 32 48