Ipc Publishers (2 results)

Cover Illustration (illustrator). 68 pages. Paperback : soft cover edition in good to better condition, a typical used book with slight wear to edges and spine. Overall good / nice copy of this scarce title. Excellent reading on the subject. A good book to enjoy and keep on hand for yourself. Or would make a GREAT GIFT for the fan / reader in your life. Reading is one of the great pleasures in life. Please send us a note if you have any questions. Thank you. Book.

An elusive figure, Dosse is certainly a candidate for a full-length study. The novelist Sally Emerson gives an excellent account of her time as editor of Books and Bookmen in its last days in an article titled Death of a Bookman (Standpoint magazine, October 2018). These six items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: 2pp, foolscap 8vo, second page numbered. Complete rough draft of typed letter, with manuscript corrections, endorsing Books and Bookmen . Although ending Yours faithfully , the identity of the author, address, date and other details are absent, and there is a strong possibility that Dosse wrote the letter himself, in the hope of getting a prominent contributor to sign it. (Another possibility is that it is by Dosse's friend Auberon Waugh (see Item Seven below). It begins, without preamble: I hardly know Mr Philip Dosse although I am an occasional contributor to his Books & Bookmen and extremely flattered to appear in a constellation of talent which is quite extraordinary. No one who has made any sort of study of, for example, the May and June issues of Books and Bookmen can fail to be aston[i]shed by the diversity of talent which its editor is able to attract to the exclusive attention of new books. I do not believe that any other English language review of books, and dedicated to this one purpose, comes within any competitive distance. Enoch Powell may to many be an objectionable politician but his review of the Crossman Diaries extending to some 6000 words over two issues is of an unequalled fascination. Auberon Waugh is invariably at his most controversial and best and what other journal could bring together the diversities of A. L. Rowse, H. J. Eysenck, Lord Egremont, Lord Butler, Diana Mosley and dozens of others writing about books and experiences they are all uniquely qualified to deal with. It is not an exercise likely to be approved by your odd Mr Oates but it is extraordinarily diverting and valuable for most. Regarding Dosse s six other titles, the author of the letter notes that he has at no time asked for nor ever received one penny of subsidy from the Arts Council almost the whole of whose field Messrs Hansom Books keep under stimulating review . Turning to publishing revenue he points out that Books and Bookmen receives almost no sustenance at all from the publishers for whose wares it so brilliantly caters . The advertising revenue is trivial , and much of it, I have ascertained, is sponsored for one generous reason or another by Mr Dosse himself . The author asserts that for the whole of my years in publishing I cannot recall a time when the absence of such a journal as Books & Bookmen was not deplored. In distant days thousands of pounds every week were largely wasted by enormous advertising expenditures in the Sundays. The letter concludes: I know nothing at all about the finances of Hansom Books in general or Books & Bookmen in particular and Mr Dosse may well regard these comments as impertinent interference. But for the life of me I cannot understand why publishers should expect the continuance for ever of a brilliant monthly, such as Books & Bookmen has become, if they are to extend no advertising support. It seems to me, if I may venture to say so, a quite extraordinary neglect, and a rather disgraceful one. TWO: Duplicated typed press release, headed PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCEMENTS , with three manuscript emendations. 1p, foolscap 8vo. No date or place, but from 1974. Begins: ARGOSY is to merge with the literary monthly BOOKS AND BOOKMEN to combine in a joint publication to be called BOOKS AND BOOKMEN & ARGOSY. The first issue of the combined monthly will be dated 1974 and published early in that month. A long list of Books & Bookmen s distinguished writers is given. The publishers of BOOKS & BOOKMEN believe that the readers of ARGOSY will enjoy the great variety which it offers - there is something for all tastes. The text continues with practical details of cost and subscription, with details of the new publisher , Hansom Books. THREE: TLS to Dosse from S. L. Johnson, / Publisher , 3 January 1974, on letterhead of IPC Magazines Ltd, London. Discussing the practical details of the handover: wholesalers packing lists , subscription material , advertisements and manuscripts. FOUR: Duplicated copy of TLS to unnamed party from C. H. F. Vincent / Head of U.K. Sales , 3 January 1974, on IPC Sales Department letterhead. Announcing the acquisition of Argosy by Hansom Books. FIVE: Duplicated copy of printed alphabetical list of around 200 writers names, in three columns, from Peter Ackroyd to Lord Zuckerman, headed books and bookmen contributors have included . Publication details are given at the foot. SIX: Photocopy of what looks like a passport photograph enlarged to 11 x 13.5 cm, headed in type PHILIP DOSSE . A balding and lugubrious middle-aged man in jacket and tie. SEVEN: Duplicated printed twenty-three line biography of Dosse, beginning Philip Dosse (1925-1980) began his working life as an office boy in a printing company and it was in 1949, when working in the advertising department of a newspaper, that he founded his first magazine Dance and Dancers . Ends: Sadly, the magazines ran into financial difficulties in 1980 and ceased trading after 30 years of publication. The devoted Dosse, whose leadership was described as idiosyncratic (he kept revenue and circulation figures a secret even from the magazines editors, although the total circulation was understood to be around 45,000), was left devastated by the closure. Attempts to find a buyer proved unsuccessful and Dosse tragically took his own life on 8th September 1980. He had only a few close friends and led a very private personal life, living alone in London following the death of his mother several years previously. Previously it is noted that Dosse formed a friendship wtih some of his contributors, engaging in lengthy correspondence with Harold Ac.