London A-Z is 70

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of artist Phyllis Pearsall, who died in 1990. She created the first London A-Z in 1936 with the help of one colleague: draughtsman James Duncan. Despite being rejected by publishers, it became a design classic. Not silly fashionable design, but practical user-friendly design. She self-published and sold 10,000 copies to W.H. Smith: retail price 1 shilling! (My 2003 Collins Greater London edition cost £25!) What do publishers know? They rejected James Herriot's vet books and Harry Potter and ... the list is endless. Click the title link to read Claire Heald's account in BBC Magazine.