Ben Schott
Writer, miscellanist, advertising agency executive and freelance photographer, Ben Schott has a number of strings to his considerable bow...
Born in London, in 1974, Schott was educated at University College School, Hampstead and Caius, Cambridge, where he took a double First in Politics. After Cambridge, Schott worked for an advertising agency, before leaving some months later to become a photographer.
It was as a collector and curator of useless fact however, that he came into his own. His book, Schott's Original Miscellany was first published in 2002, and became a surprise hit, combining the ever-popular trivia genre with a faint whiff of trendy nostalgia. For the uninitiated, it's a compendium of trivia and irrelevant information, unless of course, it contains just the very fact you were looking for. Stuffed full of lists, tables, diagrams, it will tell you anything from tables of Braille and Morse code to contradictory proverbs and a map of the Hampton Court maze.
Following on from the success of his first book, Ben Schott then expanded the series with Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany and Schott's Sporting, Gaming and Idling Miscellany. The series continues with an annual almanac - of which the latest edition, Schott's Almanac 2007 has recently been released - which redefines the traditional almanac, presenting a record of the 2006 and a guide to the year come.
Schott's Almanac 2007 is priced £16.99, and is available from all good bookshops now.
