Hard bind
Not being able to get the Morning Star I was forced to glance at the new tiresome Guardian on Monday. There was a piece by Ian Woodward interviewing a pretty young woman, Josie Holtom, imaginatively thought by Woodward to be the inspiration behind Arcadia Press.
Arcadia's business is buying standard hard back editions of well-printed books of popular appeal, like The Voyage of the Beagle and The Sun King. They take these at retail price less discount, as sheets or as complete books, from the publishers and get them expensively leather bound by Zaehns- dorf Limited (owned by the Rainbird family) and sell them, on a profit sharing basis, with Diner's Club, who pay for the mailing shots. The books are offered in limited, signed and numbered editions of 250 or 300 copies only, at up to sixty guineas. The authors usually sign for nothing, though Mr J. B. Priestley insisted on a business-like guinea a signature. Josie Holtom says sales response has been good, but many others are now planning to enter this market, adding to it what will be called Subscribers Editions.
Mr Woodward thinks lovely Josie Holtom dreamed up the idea. It came, not unex- pectedly, from a far more hard-headed source, the redoubtable Mr George Rain- bird's son. To give young Mr Rainbird his due, his father didn't think that re-trying this old idea again would catch on the way it apparently has. Mr Geoffrey Rippon, back- ing Britain this time, is one of the customers who has been able to afford not less than two of their publications. Soon these books will be for sale secondhand at Sotheby's1 If only one book manages to be sold at a profit it will encourage Arcadia's sales so long as not too many Diner's Club members try to cash in at the same time.
If I was them I should see to it that the book showed a good appreciation, even if, unthinkably, I had to buy it myself.
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