My great-uncle Harry Karnac, who has died aged 94, opened his first shop in Gloucester Road, central London, shortly after leaving the RAF at the end of the second world war. It was a small general bookshop on two floors. One day, the noted psychologist Clifford Scott, who lived nearby, suggested Harry should stock a pamphlet written by a colleague of his, Donald Winnicott.
The young bookseller knew almost nothing about psychoanalysis, but took a chance and stocked the pamphlet. Many psychoanalysts lived and worked in the area and it sold very well. Winnicott himself, a leading paediatrician and psychoanalyst, came into the shop and suggested Harry specialise in selling books on the subject. He became a regular customer. Other leading lights in the field who became frequent visitors were Barbara Woodhead, Millicent Dewar, Henri Rey and Masud Khan.
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