‘You never know what you’ll find’ is an excellent way to sum up book collecting and, indeed, collecting in general. Walking into a book fair is like a new adventure every time. I buy stock to sell at book fairs from people who get in touch with me here. I never know what I’ll find. For example, I visited a house recently to buy some art books. In the end I bought the books and a lot of other works on paper – posters, art work, and ephemera. I did not know any of it was there and the owner was delighted that I wanted it.
This particular poster stands out because of the bright colours and powerful graphic design. It was designed by Martin Battersby and hand printed at Sphinx Studio Brighton. Hand printed! They cannot have made many and I wonder how many are left now. I also wonder what happened during the show. It was in the Art Gallery and is described as ‘An Entertainment’ which could mean anything. At least the date is clear – 1969, which was only the second year of the Brighton Festival. It’s now the biggest in Europe and I have been inspired to post this because the huge magazine of the 2023 listings is out now. I’d love to find the listings for 1969 to go with this poster. What does it look like? A mimeographed sheet of paper? One might turn up – after all, ‘you never know what you’ll find!’
If you have any books, magazines, maps, photograph albums, ephemera, posters, artwork, postcards and all that jazz please do get in touch. I need a lot of new stock for the fairs as there are some busy months ahead.
Sphinx Studios, 1969. First edition. Hand printed in black, orange and silver.
