Building the most magical book collection in the world
Houdini’s correspondence with Maggs Bros.
Dear Customers & Friends,
I’m very pleased to be stepping down from the role of Managing Director of Maggs Bros. Ltd., while continuing as chairman and bookseller (as well as spending a little more time in the woods of South Kerry and on the waters of the Western seaboard).
Fuchsia Voremberg is our new M.D., and she is already bringing her energy, vision, intellect and organisation to the job. She’s a tremendous pick. She’s been with the firm for twelve years and has an instinctive understanding of the balance between traditional and contemporary, between cultural and commercial, between continuity and innovation. I couldn’t imagine anyone better qualified for the job and am very happy to be passing on the baton, according to plan, on my 66th birthday, “when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang upon those boughs which shake against the cold”.
The keener among you will note that she is both a woman and not a member of the Maggs family. As to the first you might well say “and about time too”, and as to the second, it’s both a recognition of her own virtues and a reflection of how the firm has moved from being an entirely family-owned company to one partly owned by an employee trust.
I’m not leaving, so this isn’t a farewell, but I do need to thank the firm for putting up with me in this job - for which I’ve been almost uniquely unqualified – for so long. The Maggs family also deserve great credit for their lack of greed and their long sightedness in establishing the new ownership structure: I thank them for their support and help over the years, and look forward to working with all in my new role.
Most particularly I should thank all our customers, without whom none of this happens.
Sincerely,
Ed Maggs
