Edward William Cole - Cole's Book Arcade

Cole's Book Arcade

Cole's Book Arcade was opened on 27 January 1883 and grew into one of the great book businesses of Australia. It became known as 'the prettiest sight in Melbourne'. Such was its renown that Cole's Book Arcade was visited by writers Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain during their travels to Australia. The shop was extended to Little Collins Street and afterwards buildings on the other side were bought through to the Collins Street frontage. The statement that there was once a stock of two million books is manifestly absurd, but the arcade certainly had one of the largest stocks of books in the world. Members of the public were invited to walk through the arcade, and to spend as much time as they liked turning over the books or even reading them. A large second hand department was on the first floor, where a band played every afternoon. The business continued to prosper and Cole eventually opened various new departments including one of printing. He compiled a large number of popular books, of which Cole's Funny Picture Book, which was launched with great publicity on Christmas Eve 1879, and Cole's Fun Doctor were most successful, their sales running into hundreds of thousands. Cole also had great success publishing gardening and horticultural literature. Cole’s Penny Garden Guide was abridged from the Law Somner and Co. Handbook to the Garden (1880), a device much used by Cole. His biggest garden success was Cole’s Australasian Gardening and Domestic Floriculture (1897) by William Elliott. He also published Hamilton McEwin’s The Fruitgrower’s Handbook and two books by A. E. Cole, and reprinted others, such as John Lockley’s Rose Growing Made Easy, under his imprint. Cole’s The Happifying Gardening Hobby (1918), an endearing anthology of words and pictures, embodied his altruistic wish for universal health and happiness. Historian Ken Duxbury describes this work as a ‘sort of horticultural version’ of Cole’s Funny Picture Book. Cole also edited a booklet entitled Cotton Growing: the coming leading industry in Australia in 1905 and in 1913, the second edition of The Fruitgrower’s Handbook. Over the next two years, he published two works by A. E. Cole (no relation) The Bouquet: Australian flower gardening and The Australian Floral Almanac.