"The idea of asking authors to annotate their first editions as a way of raising money for PEN came originally from the literary agent Peter Straus, who is well known in the book world for his laconic but encyclopedic recall of Booker prize winners and other literary lists. He first suggested it in 2005, but it was only when Gekoski joined the board of PEN in 2010 that he took charge of the idea and made it work. Together with his wife, Belinda Kitchin, he set about making a list of authors and choosing which of their titles was most likely to make a good price at auction. He then wrote to each of them, suggesting which book he’d like them to use. In most cases he supplied the first edition, which he sourced through his contacts in the trade. When writers asked him what “annotate” really meant, he told them, “… like ‘Humpty Dumpty’, ‘It means whatever you want it to mean. Though I have my own sense of it, it would be impertinent for me to tell you how to respond to your own book.’ And I sometimes added, ‘Whatever it is, please do a lot of it!’” • #прокниги - #теория_поля - × × ×