A LETTER FROM ANOTHER AGE Recently, while going through my late father’s effects here in the library at Camelot Castle, I came across this extraordinary open letter. I thought I should share it with you. It is an interesting historical document in its own right, but reading it again,... I realised that its message reaches far beyond the circumstances in which it was originally written. In many ways, it is a metaphor for anybody, anywhere in the world, engaged in creativity or craftsmanship. And as you can see from the text itself, it was written at an important historic moment for Britain — just before we joined what was then called the European Economic Community, or Common Market. Britain was contemplating a profound change in its relationship with Europe and, inevitably, asking questions about its own future, its independence, its industries and its place in the world. But there was also a much more personal context to the letter. At the time he wrote it, my father, as a young man, had recently left the family firm, Mappin & Webb, and was striking out on his own. Independence, therefore, was not simply an intellectual idea to him. He was living it. He understood personally the forces that can restrain sovereign ambition — the security of the established path, the expectations of others, the weight of institutions and tradition, and the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies the decision to step beyond them. And he understood something else too: the extraordinary possibilities that can open up when a person decides to take responsibility for his own future and get cracking on his own. So when he wrote about the individual craftsman, independence and the courage to put one’s own name upon one’s work, he was not speaking merely in theory. He knew what it meant to step away from something established and begin again under one’s own steam. That makes his emphasis upon the individual craftsman particularly interesting today. Because ultimately nations, businesses and civilisations are built by individuals: by people prepared to think for themselves, seek the truth, communicate what they find, master a craft, make something worthwhile and then have the courage to put their own name to it. Perhaps that message matters particularly now. The sovereign craftsmen of this world — the people who retain responsibility for what they think, what they say and what they create — are tremendously important. My father’s letter, which I believe was published in one of the major British newspapers at the time, speaks directly to that spirit: the courage to practise your craft, trust your own judgement and put your work before the world, even when the world can sometimes seem a rather daunting place. More than half a century later, the circumstances may have changed, but the underlying principle seems remarkably fresh. Institutions change. Governments change. The arrangements between nations change. But the value of the individual craftsman endures. So I have tried to present his letter in a way that honours the intention with which he originally wrote it. I hope you enjoy it. And to all of you out there who are craftsmen, creators, writers, artists, builders, thinkers — or simply people trying to make something worthwhile — good luck. And perhaps share this with somebody whose name deserves to be put just a little further into the light. Kind Regards, John Mappinshow more

John Mappin

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