My apologies if you’ve heard this story before.
Schott’s Original Miscellany began life as a Christmas card. While working as a freelance photographer, I sent my clients an annual festive card . . . to remind them that I was alive.
Because they were cheaper to print, these cards tended to be graphic rather than photographic – like the one here:
In 2003, I decided to create a little booklet of information of use to photographers, designers, and picture editors. Included were essential data on film stocks, lighting temperatures, cropping specs, chemical formulae, and the like.
To make this somewhat dry content a little more palatable, I added a host of curiosities: the kind of information at the back of our minds and on the tips of our tongue — like wine bottle sizes and unusual phobias.
On my way to pitch this Christmas card idea to a large advertising agency (WPP), I was waylaid by an old friend (Martin) who persuaded me to turn the card into a book.
After some months in the British Library (Humanities 2, mainly), I had researched, written, and typeset (using Quark XPress) 160 pages. I managed to persuade The Pear Tree Press (the one in Stevenage, not the one in Jamaica) to print 50 hard-back copies.
On the advice of another friend (Elinor), I sent one of these books to Nigel Newton, the head of Bloomsbury Publishing (the Harry Potter people). Nigel loved it, a contract was signed, and the book was in the shops just in time for Christmas 2002.
Things began to get a little crazy when, without warning, The Guardian devoted the cover of G2 to the Miscellany and, amazingly, declared the book “the publishing sensation of the year.”
Within weeks of publication, Schott’s Original Miscellany was a number one best-seller in the UK; within months it was also a bestseller in Germany and the United States.
The four books in the Miscellany trilogy have been translated into 21 languages (including Braille), and have sold over 2 million copies.
Schott’s Original Miscellany
Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany
Schott’ Sporting, Gaming,
& Idling Miscellany
Schott’s Quintessential Miscellany
