Farewell to a great bookseller – Philip Joseph

In 1951, Pam and Pauline Joseph, wife and mother of the late Philip Joseph respectively, opened a small secondhand bookshop in King George Street, Johannesburg and called it Exclusive Books. 

Philip at the time thought the book industry was something he would enjoy doing. “But my wife and my mother made it clear to me that this was their pitch, and while I was entitled to have a look, if I wanted to go into that line of business I would have to open up on my own.”

He then did just that, he opened another Exclusive Books in Hillbrow, which also started out as a secondhand bookshop. With Pam’s love for literature and his strict business principles, Exclusive Books quickly became known as South Africa’s premier retail bookseller.

After selling Exclusive Books in South Africa, Philip moved back to his home country, London, to start his journey in the bookselling industry all over again. Again, he achieved success when opening Books Etc. with his son Richard in 1981. Philip believed that much of the success in a business depends on the people running it. After years of experience in the industry Philip established a sound business model and was willing to share it with others. Benjamin Trisk, CEO of Exclusive Books described Philip as generous with his knowledge. “He was kind to all and razor-sharp. But he was more than this: he was a teacher in the real sense of the word and a great companion.” “I met him in the 1970s when I worked at Macmillan and would see him fairly regularly. He was a remarkable fellow who made a great contribution to the book business in SA and the UK, and he had the wisdom to sell his UK business before the advent of Amazon.” Jonathan Ball, founder of Jonathan Ball Publishers.

Fred Withers, former managing director of Exclusive Books, says: “Philip was quietly spoken but had very strong and well-thought-out views of the publishing and bookselling businesses. He introduced me to the Seattle Coffee people, with whom Exclusive Books had a good, long relationship.” The SA Booksellers Association would like to pay tribute to this great man.