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Len V. KellyRadio and communications history books |
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Len V. KellyRadio and communications history books |
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It did not take a great deal of thought to realise that broadcasting was the neglected subject; arguably the most significant and influential advance in communications since the invention of the printing press, broadcasting was conspicuous by its absence from any lists of booksellers' specialities, at least in the U.K. so for about three years he bought virtually every book on radio and television that he could find.
By the autumn of 1976 Len had accumulated about 1,700 volumes on the subject and decided to issue a catalogue of about a third of them to see what kind of response there might be. He sent the catalogue to all the top executives at the BBC and ITA, as well as prominent broadcasters, and advertised it in the now defunct Listener and in Exchange & Mart and other magazines. The response was very encouraging and a good proportion of the books were sold, including a very nice order from the BBC Reference Library. He got a write-up in Ariel, the BBC's staff magazine. Gavin Higgins, the then Librarian was quoted as saying "It is quite an exciting breakthrough for us." It seems that they had been having difficulty filling gaps in their holdings of books on broadcasting.
At the same time as sending out Catalogue No.1, Len attempted to sell the other 1,100 titles as a single collection, hoping that some institutional library would bite, but this did not materialise and those books formed the bulk of Catalogue No.3 which was issued in two parts (Catalogue No.2 was general social history and did not include any items on broadcasting). Since then he has issued regular catalogues on Broadcasting and Mass Communications, usually twice a year, and technical catalogues and supplements on Wireless & Television, as well as intermittent lists on such related subjects as Hi-Fi & Audio, Cinema, and Journalism.
During the early years of selling books on broadcasting he ran general secondhand bookshops in various locations, beginning in 1972 with 6 Castle Street, Bampton from whence came the original business name. In July 1975 he closed this shop and began working from home at "Franklyn," Deymans Hill, Tiverton, and in 1977 he opened another bookshop at 23 Newport Street, Tiverton, although the bulk of the broadcasting stock was still kept at "Franklyn". The next major venture was the opening of the "show room" at 46 Malden Road, Chalk Farm in London, a basement beneath a secondhand bookshop owned by a friend. Unfortunately, this was not a great success, but Len did make a number of new customers through having the London shop, many of whom are on his current mailing list, and he was interviewed for Radio London by Godfrey Talbot, the BBC's former royal correspondent!
In 1983 he closed the shop at Newport Street, too, and retreated back to "Franklyn," and since then, with the exception of a tiny shop attached to an antique complex in which he had some books for a couple of years in the early 1990s (17 Angel Hill, Tiverton) he has worked from various home addresses in Tiverton: "The Wilderness", Barrington Street (1986-92); 75/77 Chapel Street (1992-1997) and since March of this year from the present address at Redlands.
As with most businesses, Len has had his ups and downs over the years. The first crisis came quite early on when Volume One... crashed, but he survived this, as well as the various economic slumps and recessions of the '70s and '80s, although on two occasions he was forced to sell chunks of the business in order to pay off debts that were getting out of control. In 1982 Len issued Catalogue No.10, which was comprised of 277 rather mouth-watering items which he had put aside over the previous years as a kind of "pension fund". Eventually he sold the lot as a single collection for £10,000 but looking through that catalogue now he often wishes that he had a few of those items today (e.g. Lord Reith's own copy of his first book, BROADCAST OVER BRITAIN, a fine copy in dust wrapper of Alfred Dinsdale's TELEVISION, 1926 - the first book on the subject, as well as a nice copy of the second edition, 1928 - signed by the author!). And in 1990 he was forced to "rationalise" the business by selling off most of the technical stock on wireless and television to Jim Kreuzer of New Wireless Pioneers in Elma, N.Y. who also took over the name of Bampton Books and the right to use the logo. However, Len still dabbles a bit in this area, always trying not to tread on Jim's toes, and he issues technical supplements to the main catalogues from time to time, even though the major part of the stock continues to consist of books on the history and sociology of broadcasting.
In 1997 Len began a new venture - selling on the Internet, having websites with Bibliofind and Antiquarian Book Exchange. Hopefully this side of the business will expand as more and more people are able to log on, and his page and advert with this site, too, should introduce him and his wares to a wider public worldwide.
L.V.Kelly can be reached at: 6 Redlands, Blundell's Road, Tiverton, Devon EX16 4DH, tel. (01884) 256170, Fax (01884) 242550, e-mail: len@kellybooks.co.uk, website: www.kellybooks.co.uk
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