Barrett launch night arrives

The Essential office is a real hive of activity this afternoon as we prepare for tonight’s official launch of Barrett – the definitive visual companion to the life of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, by Russell Beecher and Will Shutes.

The book is published to coincide with the opening of the Syd Barrett: Arts & Letters exhibition at London’s Idea Generation Gallery, where tonight’s launch party is taking place. The last couple of weeks have seen a flurry of press interest in the joint project, with coverage by Reuters, BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour, and the BBC World Service today alone. The book and exhibition were also  featured in the Sunday Times, Independent, Daily Telegraph and – last night – on  Radio 4′s flagship arts show Front Row, with presenter John Wilson touring the exhibition with Blur guitarist and Syd fan Graham Coxon (see video below).

But behind all the excitement, tonight’s event marks a real milestone for Essential. Authors Russell Beecher and Will Shutes have done a frankly incredible job tracking down the rare and unseen photographs, letters and artworks featured in the book, and we’ve been tremendously proud to have made this stunning book the latest of our direct sale projects. Find out more about it over on the Barrett website, and watch the Facebook page for photos from the event.