Christina Agnes Lilian Foyle (30 January 1911 – 8 June 1999) was an English bookseller and owner of Foyles bookshop.

Early life

Miss Foyle (as she liked to be called) was born in London, the daughter of William Foyle, a leading bookseller, owner of Foyles, on the Charing Cross Road in the West End of London. The shop had been established in 1904 by William and his brother Gilbert Foyle. Another brother was Charles Henry Foyle, inventor of the "folding carton" and founder of Boxfoldia.

In 1930, when she was nineteen, Foyle created the world's first public literary luncheon, bringing together notable writers and other distinguished figures, to meet members of the public. The idea came to her from talking to Kipling, Shaw, H. G. Wells, and other writers while they were buying books, and thinking that others might enjoy such a chance. It also followed on from the literary lectures, without food or drink, started by her father, which were less successful. They usually took place at the Dorchester or the Grosvenor House Hotel, and usually a guest speaker (who included Bertrand Russell and Margaret Thatcher) spoke in praise of a book, as well as the author. The Right Book Club republished titles with conservative and classical liberal themes.

In 1945, control of the shop passed to Christina Foyle. It was under her that the shop stagnated, with little investment and poorly paid staff who could be fired on a whim. She resisted unionisation of bookshop staff, sacking most employees just before they had worked there six months, when they would gain limited job protection rights. She refused to install electronic tills or calculators, and orders would not be taken by phone. The shop would, however, order expensive books from as far off as Germany without prepayment.

The shop operated a payment system that required customers to queue three times: to collect an invoice for a book, to pay the invoice, then to collect the book: because sales staff were not allowed to handle cash. There was a shelving arrangement that categorised books by publisher, rather than by topic or author.

Foyle met many leading literary and political figures during her life. Her collection of personal correspondence included a letter from Adolf Hitler, responding to her complaint about Nazi book-burning. Her literary friends included Kingsley Amis, Charles de Gaulle, D. H. Lawrence, Yehudi Menuhin, J. B. Priestley, George Bernard Shaw, Margaret Thatcher, Evelyn Waugh and H. G. Wells.

The Foyle Foundation

The Foyle Foundation was founded in 2001 under the terms of Christina Foyle's will. It makes grants to other UK charities, mainly in the fields of the arts and learning (until 2009, also health). The 2010 accounts showed funds of over £76 million. Among other grants it made a large donation to the appeal to purchase the oldest intact European book, the St Cuthbert Gospel, for the British Library in 2011/12. To the year ending June 2010 £41.4 million worth of grants had been offered by the Foyle Foundation.

Screenwriter Anthony Horowitz has said that she was the namesake for the title character, Christopher Foyle, in the ITV series Foyle's War.

See also

  • Beeleigh Abbey, Christina Foyles former residence

References

  • Obituary, The Guardian, 10 June 1999.
  • Obituary, The New York Times, 11 June 1999
  • Obituary, The Independent, 11 June 1999
  • Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 10 June 1999