David Schutte on Richmal Crompton, Bookselling, Writing and Publishing

When my mum and I first started collecting vintage children’s books when I was still a child, we became familiar with David Schutte’s excellent catalogue. Over the years, David has helped us to add many beloved books to our shelves.

Specialising in vintage children’s books and artwork, as well as some adult authors, David Schutte is a professional bookseller and publisher, as well as the author of the Naitabal mysteries for children. An expert on the work of Richmal Crompton - famed for her Just William books - David has recently published anthologies of Crompton’s short-form fiction, including short stories and sketches she wrote for magazines.

For an example of one of Crompton’s sketches, do read ‘Celebrating Spring,’ published within Seasons of Story (click here).

David kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his career and passion for books:

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Question 1: What started you off on your career as a specialist children's book seller?

It must have been in the late 1970s when I was an “expert" in the then rather remote computer industry, and had children, and decided to find William books again - never having owned more than a couple, but frequently visiting the library in my schooldays to read them.

So off I went. I couldn't find any William in the local shops, or the very few charity shops or junk shops of those days. So I advertised in Exchange and Mart, and had one reply from a local lady and bought several Williams from her - old copies, but readable.

I advertised again and acquired a few more, then a dealer sent me a list and I bought a few more, and then I found I had a couple of spares, so advertised again. I issued a short list, and sold one! So then my spare time hobby expanded into a very nice William collection, and it wasn't long before I was collecting and selling Crompton's rare adult novels and short stories, and my other favourite humourist, P.G.Wodehouse.

Question 2: How did you get into selling art as well, especially the work of book illustrators?

My largest acquisitions of art started when I bought a couple of small pieces I liked at a bookfair, and then a few years later I was offered a huge collection of original artwork from Look and Learn. Then, because I was selling that, I was offered another huge collection of original dustwrapper artwork that Collins publishers were throwing out.

And then, I bought at another bookfair a couple of small pieces of artwork from The Wind in the Willows by Val Biro. They weren't signed, but I knew he lived locally, and when we met up we found we had much in common, including my being an author too, and I learned that his attic was full of his artwork - and he was one of the most sought-after jacket illustrators of the 1950s and 1960s, designing roughly 3-4,000 for a huge range of publishers and authors, including Nevil Shute, CS Forester, Tennessee Williams, etc etc etc.

I became his agent for selling his artwork, and also then commissioned him to illustrate many of my own publications, particularly Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings.

Question 3: Are you a book collector yourself? Which authors do you collect?

I have so much stock that I don't really need to collect too seriously, but I do have my own lovely vintage copies of William, PG Wodehouse, Nevil Shute, and a few other classics.

Question 4: How did your childhood reading influence your desire to become a children's book author?

As a child I loved the sheer adventure of the Famous Five; I loved the brilliant plots of Agatha Christie; I loved the technical detail of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons etc, and of course the beautiful language and humour of Richmal Crompton and P. G. Wodehouse. I wanted to be a writer from about the age of 13/14, and I wrote my first whodunnit in between O and A levels in the summer holidays when I was 16. It was rejected (unsurprisingly).

I tried writing a few more adult novels before I was in my mid-twenties (with no success), but I did write three one-act comedy plays that were performed on the amateur circuit and won various “new play" awards. Eventually, when my own youngest was 10, my wife suggested that I might try writing for children. So then I wanted in my children's books all the things I admired in my favourite authors named above: I wanted hard-to-guess Agatha Christie plots (without the murder!); I wanted adventure, mystery, humour, and technical detail. My first effort was accepted by Macmillan - at last!

Question 5: Would you tell me about the books you've written? What do you enjoy most about being an author?

I think I answered most of that in the previous answer, but I did really enjoy visiting over 200 schools in my time, talking to them about how to write a mystery story, reading from the books, and teaching them the secret language of my heroes, the Naitabals.

Question 6: You've published some excellent collections of short stories and sketches by Richmal Crompton. Would you tell me more about these projects and how you got into publishing?

I got into publishing in 1990 when I researched Richmal Crompton's William, and because I was a prime dealer in William and had (then) one of the best collections in the country, I saw the need for an accurate bibliography of the first editions of William, and their original appearances in all the old magazines.

So I wrote and published William - the Immortal which is now the collectors' bible. Later on I met Anthony Buckeridge and discovered that he had 62 Jennings BBC radio scripts in his attic, and so it was the work of a moment (as Wodehouse would say) to publish them all in 10 volumes and get Val Biro to illustrate them.

Then, of course, I discovered that there were 55 William BBC radio scripts written by Crompton herself, and they followed in 6 hardback volumes in dustjackets, with every one illustrated by Thomas Henry from drawings in the old ‘Happy Mag’ that had never appeared in the published William books.

It was ten years ago that I borrowed Richmal Crompton's own account book from her family. In her account book Crompton listed all the stories she sold between 1923 and the mid-40s, including William and all her adult novels and stories. When I had constructed a spreadsheet of all these entries and then compared them with her published adult novels and collections of stories, I discovered that there were around 75 of her adult stories that had never been published in book form, and around 150 humorous sketches - never collected.

At that point I had a list of the missing titles - but not very many of the stories! So I scoured Crompton's own archive at Roehampton University, and the Bodleian Library and British Library to locate all the stories. And while I was there I discovered 50 more!!!!! I have now published 25 of these in The House in the Wood, 27 in The Apple Blossom Lady, and 133 of the humorous sketches in Oh, Clare! Another 25-30 stories are in preparation for The Dream.

Question 7: How did you first discover Richmal Crompton, and what do you enjoy most about her writing?

I discovered Crompton when a family friend a couple of years older than me said “You might like this" and handed me a copy of William the Fourth. I wasn't sure that I wanted to read a book about a pre-Victorian king. But when I opened it and looked at the frontispiece with a small boy and a large lady depicted, and read the caption: “William was trapped, trapped in a huge and horrible drawing room by a huge and horrible woman" I was hooked!

Her writing is both easy to read, and yet wonderfully constructed, with no writing down to children - because, of course, they were originally written for adults, about children. And, unlike most books of their era, they haven't dated. And they are truly funny, and I particularly liked Crompton's gentle digging at the behaviour of the adults in the books, particularly William’s own family.

Question 8: For those who loved the Just William books as a child, what would you recommend they read as adults?

I suppose that depends on what sort of adults they've grown up into.... I would strongly suggest P. G. Wodehouse.

Question 9: If people would like to keep up with your news and forthcoming publications, where is best to find you online?

I don't currently have any social media outlets, but my website for books is at davidschutte.weebly.com, and if anyone is interested in future Crompton “lost story" publications they can email me at davidschutte002@gmail.com and I will let them know as books are published.

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If you’re a fan of Richmal Crompton’s writing, then I so recommend David’s excellent anthologies of her work. They are available to buy from David himself - do get in touch with him via his website for further queries.