Vassilopoulos pens 100-year anniversary celebration of the Book Society

A book to mark the 100th anniversary of the Book Society has been written by publisher and book trade historian Maria Vassilopoulos.

Published this month by Marble Hill in association with the Book Society, An Evening with the Book Society: A Celebration of 100 Years of Dinners, Discussion and Friendship offers “fascinating historical and current insights into what goes on behind the scenes in publishing,” telling the story of the society, which originated in 1921 as the Society of Bookmen, founded by Hugh Walpole as a club for publishers, booksellers and literary agents to meet regularly to eat together and share industry knowledge.

The synopsis continues: “Now, 100 years and a name change later, the Society continues to attract new members and be a place to find new connections and ideas. Would Walpole recognise the Society in the 21st century? This short history will take you on an evening out with the book men and women whose decisions, guests and speakers throughout the decades have made the Book Society what it is today.”

The book originated in 2017 when David Taylor, then chair of the Book Society, alerted the committee that the 100th anniversary of the Society’s founding in 1921 was coming up.

When he offered Ingram’s print-on-demand services to print an anniversary book free of charge, the decision was taken to publish a celebratory book. According to Francis Bennett, author, former publisher and co-founder of Book Data, who worked on the project, The Bookseller’s head of publisher relations Emma Lowe proposed Maria Vassilopoulos, a publishing sales manager who has worked in both publishing and bookselling for 18 years. She is also a book trade historian, currently completing a PhD thesis at UCL on the history of the book trade in the 19th century.

Bennett continues: “[But] who would publish it? Some years ago Sue Whitley, a former secretary of the Society, had introduced me to Maria and I have acted as an occasional adviser to her research projects. When Maria told me about the project, I leapt at the chance to publish it under my own imprint, Marble Hill Publishers, in association with the Book Society. Michael Bhaskar, by then chair of the Society, and the committee agreed.

“Then the pandemic broke and our lives were put on hold. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t make the anniversary date [in 2021]. To have published without a launch would have been a wasted opportunity. That explains (in part, at least) why the anniversary edition has only seen the light of day now.

“This book could not have come into being without enormous help from David Taylor, Michael Bhaskar, Nick Singh and Jamie Hodder-Williams – and of course Maria, who has researched and written it. As with all the best projects, it has been a pleasure to work on this book.” It can be purchased here.