Simon Beattie (born 5 February 1975 in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

) is a British antiquarian bookseller, literary translator and music composer. He was the first British bookseller to be featured in Fine Books Magazine's series Bright Young Things; when he became a member of the

Antiquarian Booksellers Association The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (ABA) is the senior trade body in the British Isles for dealers in antiquarian and rare books, manuscripts and allied materials. The ABA organises a number of book fairs every year including its flagship f ...

in 2011, the Association's Newsletter described him as 'a dealer to watch' (October 2011, Issue 364, p. 15). Beattie was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

, where he took a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Russian (1997) and subsequently studied for an MA in

Lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

(1998), which he passed with Distinction. Whilst at Exeter, Beattie also held a choral scholarship at

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

. After brief freelance dictionary work for

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

('' Encarta® World English Dictionary'', 1999) and

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(''The Oxford Russian Dictionary'', third edition, 2000), Beattie joined the London antiquarian booksellers Bernard Quaritch Ltd in 1998. In January 2010 he set up his own independent company in Chesham,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, specialising in European cross-cultural history. His printed catalogues, entitled ''Short Lists'', won the catalogue category in the 2010 McNaughton Review awards, a Gold Award at the 2011 Fresh Awards, two Gold Awards at the 2011 Roses Design Awards, Best Publication at the 2011 Cream Awards, and a Bronze Award at the Art Directors Club, New York, 2012. Short List 5 won In Book at the D&AD awards in 2013, and a Premier Award at the 2014 ISTD Awards. On the publication of Beattie's first catalogue,

The Book Collector ''The Book Collector'' is a London based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage ...

wrote: 'If you have not got a copy of Beattie Short List 1, get it at once' (Autumn 2010, p. 462). Beattie was a 2012 winner in the Smarta 100 Awards for 'the most resourceful, original, exciting and disruptive small businesses in the UK'. He has taught at the York Antiquarian Book Seminar since its inception in 2014. It was Beattie who set in motion the worldwide strike by over 450 booksellers against AbeBooks' decision to withdraw from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, and South Korea in November 2018. Beattie's new translation of Gottfried Benn's shocking first poem ''Morgue'' was published in 2018. He has also translated

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

and Anna Akhmatova. His translation of the novel ''At the Edge of the Night'' by the German writer Friedo Lampe was published by

Hesperus Press Hesperus Press is an independent publishing house based in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 2001. The publisher's motto, "Et Remotissima Prope," is a Latin phrase which means "Bringing near what is far". Hesperus Press has published som ...

in 2019. Beattie also composes choral music. His setting of ''Advent Calendar'', a poem by Rowan Williams, was broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

as part of the 2008 Advent carol service from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. It has since been performed on both sides of the Atlantic. A more recent piece, ''The Angel and the Unicorn'', setting a poem by Rilke (which Beattie himself translated) on the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

, was premiered by the Choir of

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

in 2020.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

Official website

SoundCloud page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Simon 1975 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter Antiquarian booksellers British booksellers English booksellers English composers People from Aylesbury People from Chesham

See also

References

External links