Background: More to follow.

Speaker:

Roddy Somerville was born and brought up in Edinburgh. On graduating from St Andrews University in 1977 with a degree in French and Fine Arts, he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. He later worked as a proofreader of cardiological texts. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the International Playing-Card Society, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards housed at the London Metropolitan Archives. He lives near Toulouse in France.