The Psychic Bookshop (letter)
This letter was written by Arthur Conan Doyle published in Light on 5 july 1930.
Conan Doyle explains that the Spiritualist bookshop at 2 Victoria Street has been a successful propaganda centre but has placed too much personal financial and administrative burden on him after costing him £5,000. He therefore proposes turning it into a limited company with £7,500 capital, inviting supporters to take shares so the business can be sustained and expanded on a broader basis.
Letter
Sir, — As it is difficult for me to circularise all the members of the L.S.A., perhaps you would have the courtesy to allow me to use your columns to explain the position.
The Bookshop at 2, Victoria Street was established five years ago with the intention of putting our Cause in evidence in some central spot, so that our literature should come under the direct notice of the public. The shop has been eminently successful as a propaganda centre, and it holds out every hope of becoming a self-supporting institution, especially if certain possible economies are effected. Up to now it has cost me five thousand pounds, a fair proportion of which is represented in fixtures and stock. The responsibility, however, both financial and administrative, has been considerable, and I feel that the time has come when it should be more widely and equally distributed.
This could only be done by turning it into a limited company. Personally, as vendor, I ask for no money and am quite content to accept 4,500 one pound shares, having every hope that the business will be a fair investment. The proposal then is that there should be a capital of £7,500 and that after deducting the 4,500 shares which represent my outlay, the remainder shall, after paying the expense of the flotation, be used as working capital. This should, in my opinion, be enough to make the business an economic success.
Mr. W. T. Livingston, who launched the Grotrian Hall Company in so successful a manner, is good enough to look after the business arrangements. His valuable services are, I may add, entirely honorary, and he puts his competent staff at my disposal. Should anyone desire to help the cause by taking an interest in the Bookshop he or she can receive a prospectus with full details by applying to Mr. Livingston at 18, Collingham Gardens, S.W.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
