Arts +The Bookseller who would be King. Wednesday 18 November 10.30-12.00. Kings Arms Melksham

Our next Arts + event draws on the expertise of Dr Reg Clark. Reg may be better known to most of you as our resident Egyptologist but in his earlier career he also worked as the Public Relations Officer for the eccentric bookseller Richard Booth.

In 1962, Richard Booth opened his first bookshop in the sleepy Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye, which eventually grew to become the world's largest second-hand bookshop. This attracted other book dealers to the town and created the world’s first ‘Town of Books’. A natural entrepreneur, self-publicist, raconteur and eccentric, Booth exploited the international media interest in Hay by declaring the town ‘Independent’ of the British Isles in 1977 and crowning himself King! The national and global publicity that followed, brought even more visitors to the town, benefiting both his business and the local economy and putting Hay firmly on the map. Moreover, as a result in later years, Hay’s enduring cultural and literary reputation led to it eventually becoming the seat of the renowned Hay Festival.