Postcard from the Past to Fourth Estate

Fourth Estate is to publish Postcard from the Past, a book based on the popular Twitter account of the same name, by postcard collector Tom Jackson.

The publisher acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada and audio) from Kirsty McLachlan at David Godwin Associaties.

Created by Jackson, the Postcard from the Past Twitter account offers a feed of images of vintage postcards paired with a quote from the message written on the back.  "The interplay between the images and words has a wonderfully wistful, nostalgic effect, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of the people who wrote the cards, and cumulatively, the project forms a kind of alternate social history", according to the publisher.

Jackson said: "It’s been pleasing and exciting to see just how quickly so many people have taken the cards and their messages to heart. Working with Fourth Estate for a Postcard From The Past book was an easy decision for me - Tom Killingbeck and the team really got the concept and its eccentric possibilities. I’m confident that together we’ll make a beautiful, odd, funny and successful book."

Tom Killingbeck, publishing executive at Fourth Estate, said: "Postcard from the Past is that rare thing – a cult online phenomenon which will work even better in book form. Tom’s curatorial eye is exceptional, and the quotations he finds in his postcard collection are by turn hilarious, mysterious and moving. There’s a true art to what he does, and I can’t wait to introduce his work to readers who loved Letters of Note (Canongate) and Very British Problems (Sphere) next summer."

Publication is scheduled for June 2017.