With his English wife Anne Parsons, Giovanni Antonio Gaglinani established an English bookshop and circulating library in Paris around1799 which was continued by their sons William and Anthony Gaglinani. The two brothers issued reprints of many English books, sometimes paying authors for advance-sheets. Sir Walter Scott, for instance, on visiting what he calls the 'old pirate's den' in 1826, was, 'after some palaver,' offered a hundred guineas for sheets of his 'Life of Napoleon.' The 'den' was at the bottom of a court, 18 rue Vivienne, and though so central, a garden with large trees was attached to it. It served as a club for English residents and visitors, who paid six francs a month, the reading room containing English and continental newspapers and eighteen thousand books. Rare English language catalogue with English language books that were published by Gaglinani in Paris.