Among the many tacky tourist traps are some quality shops, including the ones described here.
Set within an antique house with ceiling beams, The Shakespeare Bookshop, 39 Henley St. (tel. 01789/292176), across from the Shakespeare Birthplace Centre, is the region's premier source for textbooks and academic treatises on the Bard and his works. It specializes in books for every level of expertise on Shakespearean studies, from picture books for junior high school students to weighty tomes geared to anyone pursuing a Ph.D. in literature.
The largest shop of its kind in the Midlands, Arbour Antiques, Ltd., Poets Arbour, off Sheep Street (tel. 0845/603-8709; www.arbourantiques.co.uk), sells antique weapons from Britain, Europe, and India. If you've always hankered for a full suit of armor, this place can sell you one.
Everything in the Pickwick Gallery, 32 Henley St. (tel. 01789/294861), is a well-crafted work of art produced by copper or steel engraving plates, or printed by means of a carved wooden block. Hundreds of botanical prints, landscapes, and renderings of artfully arranged ruins, each suitable for framing, can be purchased. Topographical maps of regions of the United Kingdom are also available if you're planning on doing any serious hiking.
