Booksellers in the Press - Maggs Bros. London
The Times writes: "The antiquarian book trade is finally recovering after losing a generation of rare book buyers to the digital world, one of the country’s leading traders has said.
Ed Maggs said that after fallow decades when visits to bookshops plunged and trading on the internet thrived, a younger generation was falling in love with the “smell and heft” of rare books.
Mr Maggs, the fifth generation of his family to run Maggs Bros, which was founded in London in 1853, said that these were “golden days” for older books, adding that prices for books “below the best” were far more accessible."
The Spectator titles: "Why rare books are thriving in the digital age - One of London’s oldest antiquarian booksellers says young collectors have given business a boost"
Benjamin Maggs, son of Ed Maggs: "
‘I did a degree in the history of books and my dissertation looked at the idea that was prevalent in the 80s and 90s that books were dead and computers were going to take over,’ he says.
‘There was a view that because digital technology was newer and more efficient that it was completely better than paper, but the reality is they are simply different things. I believe strongly there is a reaction to computers. When computers were new people went to them, but because they are now the mainstream, people want to get away from them. As a result the antiquarian book trade is full of young people. There are lots of people just in London between 20 and 30 interested in rare books and we are winning customers over, as well. I see it as part of the same movement as other artisanal things, like craft beer.’"
All articles can be found online.
Link to article in The Spectator from 23 May 2017.
Link to the THE TIMES from 23 May 2017
Link to Fine Books & Collections from 10 May 2017
Image 1: c/o The Times
Image 2: c/o The Spectator
Image 3: c/o Maggs Bros.
