London Open House

Date

Sunday, 20th September 2026

Location

The Stationers’ Company, Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London, EC4M 7DD

Price

Free

Ticket Deadline

May have to queue on the day

Dress Code

Casual

Schedule

Brief History of the Stationers’ Company

In 1403 the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London approved the formation of a fraternity or Guild of Stationers (booksellers and text writers, who copied and sold manuscript books and writing materials, and limners who decorated and illustrated them). Each appointed a warden to control and regulate them.

They were so called because these trades operated from stalls or ‘stations’ around St. Paul’s Churchyard. Their stalls were ‘of a fixed point’ i.e. stationary, and the bookbinders, text writers and limners became known as ‘Stationers’
and the goods that they sold (pens, paper and writing materials) became known as ‘stationery’.

By the early 16th century printers had joined the Stationers’ Company and by the mid-century printing had more or less ousted the manuscript trade. In 1557 the Guild received a Royal Charter of Incorporation and in 1559, the right to wear a distinctive livery. They became a livery company, numbered 47 in the Order of Precedence.