Schott's Original Miscellany

Product Information

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). It’s hard to define, but we know it when we findit… Schott’s Original Miscellany is without doubt the oddest, and possiblythemerriest, title you will come across in a long day’s march through theshimmering desert of contemporary publishing. Schott typeset the book himself and had 50 copies privately printed by the Pear Tree Press in Stevenage. Schott worked as a photographer from 1996 to 2003, specialising in portraits of politicians and celebrities.

Schott MISCELLANIES | Ben Schott

Walter Thompson, Ben spent most of his twenties as a freelance portrait photographer for a diverse range of editorial and commercial clients. Ben has written for many of the great British and American titles including The Times, The Telegraph, The New York Times, The Spectator, Private Eye, Bloomberg Opinionand Playboy. As a photographerBen worked with The Independent, The Times, The Sunday Times, Reader’s Digest, and Sunday Business, amongst many others, and has photographed a wealth of celebrities from Hugh Grant and Tony Blair, to Gordon Brown and Enoch Powell. Schott's Original Miscellany is, without doubt, the oldest, and possibly merriest title you will come across in a long day's march through the shimmering desert of contemporary publishing".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. He has regularly acknowledged the influence of the work of Edward Tufte in influencing the look and feel of his books. To make this somewhat dry content a little more palatable, I added a host of zesty 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. In 2003, I decided to create a little booklet of information of use to photographers, designers, and picture editors. They consist of a collection of trivia generally centred on the culture of the United Kingdom (and to a lesser extent the rest of the European Union and the Commonwealth).

Schott ABOUT | Ben Schott

Tony Blair asked Schott if he would like to see then-baby Leo; Cherie barked at him not to take too long as they were about to have lunch. In 2002, Ben turned a Christmas card into his first book — Schott’s Original Miscellany—which within weeks was a bestseller. The four books in the Miscellanytrilogy have been translated into 21 languages (including Braille), and have sold over 2. I managed to persuade The Pear Tree Press (the one in Stevenage, not the one in Jamaica) to print 50 hard-back copies. Walter Thompson where he was an account manager on the Nestlé Rowntree account working on Smarties, Kit Kat and Polo.Together the first three books have sold over two million copies, and Schott's Original Miscellany has been translated into more than 13 languages (including Japanese). Within weeks of publication, Schott’s Original Miscellanywas a number one best-seller in the UK; within months it was also a bestseller in Germany and the United States. It was a work of striking originality, and it was remarkable to receive an unsolicited submission like this in the mail. In December 2005, The Guardian newspaper, which described Schott's Original Miscellany as "the publishing sensation of the year", produced a special edition of its G2 section with selections from the book's 2006 edition. Somehow Mr Schott turns a collection of trivia intoa window on the world that is hilarious, puzzling, and inspiring.