"The demolition of our premises at 34 & 35 Conduit Street, W.1, scheduled to take place in 1940, has necessitated our removal to appropriate premises elsewhere. New buildings are rising with mushroom growth, but it was felt that a building of the late 18th or early 19th century would be a more appropriate home for the literary treasures of the past, rather than some ultra-modern building in twentieth century style. Our final choice was 50 Berkley Square." - House of Maggs.

This quote from the introduction to House of Maggs - a hitherto unknown book of photographs of 50 Berkeley Square found recently in our company archives - could have been written about our move to 48 Bedford Square almost eighty years later. The townhouse, located at the South end of Berkeley Square, is fondly remembered by colleagues and friends of Maggs, and as such, we have reproduced the photographs and published them here digitally for the first time. Taken in 1939, they are the earliest known photographic record of Berkeley Square.

Rather charmingly, the final image is of Maggs’ Paris House, at this time located at 93-95 Rue de la Boëtie. The invasion of France by the Nazi’s, only a short time after this image was taken, led to the forced removal of Maggs’ stock to Germany. Despite this interruption, business was resumed, and our operations in Paris continued until the 1950s.