Sims, George Frederick Robert, 1923-1999
Dates
- Existence: 1923 - 1999
Biography
George Frederick Robert Sims was born on August 3, 1923, in London, England. From 1934 to 1940, he attended John Lyon's School in Harrow, Middlesex after which he became a trainee for the Press Association in London. From 1942 to 1947, he served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army. After the war he became a rare book dealer and opened a business under the name of G.F. Sims. He began writing crime fiction in the early 1960s, and had his first novel "The Terrible Door" published in 1964. Some of his earlier writings include "The Swallow Lovers" which was privately printed in 1941, and a book of "Poems," as well as the "Immanent Goddess," and "A Catalogue of Letter, Manuscripts Papers and Books of Frederick Rolf, Baron Corv." In his later writings Sims took advantage of his experiences with manuscripts and rare books in creating the settings and protagonists of many of his novels. The world of the British rare-book dealer is well presented: the auction houses, the collectors of poetry and pornography, the large country-house sales all come across to the reader as true to life. Sims's love of literature is also evident in the many authors he either quotes or refers to in his novels including "Sleep No More" (1966), "The Sand Dollar" (1969), "Deadhand" (1971), "Rex Mundi" (1978), and "Coat of Arms" (1984). Sims died in 1999.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
George Sims papers
George Sims (1923-1999), author and book seller. Consists of correspondence, manuscripts, notebooks, dust jackets, catalogues, bulletins, proofs, invoices and receipts as well as clippings and ephemera related to his business as a rare book dealer ,and the publications of his mystery novels.
G.F. Sims correspondence
G. F. Sims firm (1947-1987), rare book dealer. The collection contains correspondence of the rare books firm concerning the purchase and sale of rare books and modern literary manuscripts. Contains significant correspondence from both the creators of literary manuscripts and collectors, both private and institutional.