George Frederick Robert Sims (3 August 1923,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

– 4 November 1999,

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

), also known as George Sims, was an English

antiquarian bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

and writer of crime thrillers. He was born in the Hammersmith district of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1923, the son of a shoe merchant. He was educated at the John Lyons School in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

. He married Beryl Simcock in 1943, with whom he had three children. He served in the Intelligence Corps in the final years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he started working at Len Westwood's bookshop in Harrow before setting up as a mail order bookseller under the name of G.F. Sims. In 1952, he moved to the village of Hurst in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and remained there till his death. G.F. Sims traded until 1987. An account of the business can be found in ''Mr George Sims Regrets'' by James Fergusson, which lists the (now very collectable) catalogues the firm issued. (The title comes from a notice he displayed in the shop: "Mr. George Sims regrets that his signature spoils books".) As a writer, Sims published poetry, crime thrillers, and four volumes of memoirs. Several of his novels were published in

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

paperback and won praise from figures such as

H.R.F. Keating Henry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating (31 October 1926 – 27 March 2011) was an English crime fiction writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID. Life Keating, known as "Harry" to friends and family, ...

Maurice Richardson Maurice Lane Richardson (1907–1978) was an English journalist and short story writer. Early life and education Richardson was born to a wealthy family; his father, a successful stockjobber, "after retirement and some financial ups and downs" ...

, Roy Fuller and

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

. Several of his books, notably ''The Terrible Door'' (1964), involve the rare book and manuscript trade of which he had experience. Sims' papers, and those of the firm, are held in the archives of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. Further papers are held as part of the archive of the Tragara Press (which published his catalogues) at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''The Sand Dollar'' (1964) * ''The Terrible Door'' (1964) * ''Sleep No More'' (1966) * ''The Last Best Friend'' (1967) * ''Dead-hand'' (1971) * ''Hunters Point'' (1973) * ''The End of the Web'' (1976) * ''Rex Mundi'' (1978) * ''Who Is Cato?'' (1981) * ''The Keys of Death'' (1983) * ''Coat of Arms'' (1984) * ''The Despain Papers'' (1992)

Non-fiction

* ''The Rare Book Game'' (1985) * ''More of the Rare Book Game'' (1988) * ''Last of the Rare Book Game'' (1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, George Frederick 1923 births 1999 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets 20th-century English memoirists English booksellers English crime fiction writers English thriller writers English male novelists People from Hammersmith Writers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Intelligence Corps soldiers English male poets Novelists from London British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Military personnel from Berkshire