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The death of print has been a literal hot-off-the-press topic for well over a decade, but despite the overwhelming surge in digital reading platforms, it seems people are still not willing to give up the real thing. It’s hardly surprising — the printed word has been responsible for innumerable awakenings of consciousness over the centuries, giving physical form to vast catalogues of thoughts and ideas. Each type of publication comes with its own purpose: hardback books give weight to newly published novels, for instance, while the highly distributable magazine format has long been employed to pay homage to every kink, hobby and interest conceivable. In the ’60s Cosmopolitan offered an outlet to repressed housewives and curious teens, and by the ’80s The Face had come to unite people who shied away from mainstream culture in an exhibition of the alternative.
Purveyor of print, James Hyman, is a London-based collector who has fallen deep under the medium’s spell, having amassed around 120,000 individual titles and approximately 160,000 magazines, newsletters, pamphlets and printed ephemera over the past 25 years. Hyman’s obsession started while he was working as a script-writer at MTV Europe in the late ’80s, at the height of publishing’s golden epoch. He began by purchasing magazines as part of his research process but soon got hooked, filling his flat with publications from ceiling to floor. In 2014, with the help of archivist and curator Tory Turk, he finally founded his own archive, The Hyman Archive Ltd., in order to maintain his huge collection.
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The archive’s amazing Instagram account, @hymanarchive is brimming with throwback titles from bygone eras (Hyman is yet to turn down a donation to the collection).  It offers a rare glimpse into a world of forgotten imagery and unique editorial voices, including everything from the first ever issue of Playboy magazine from 1953 to feminist zine BITCH and Carp fishing’s “biggest selling magazine” Total Carp, featuring none other than Dappy from N-Dubz.
Hyman and Turk’s tireless efforts to preserve the history of publishing have also had major beneficial repercussions for cultural institutions, museums and researchers. The unique ways in which printed ephemera articulates specific eras, subcultures and music trends are now viewed as a vital means of enshrining the past, especially when it comes to exhibition making. As such some of the archive’s most precious material has been featured in a number of leading exhibitions, including David Bowie Is at the V&A, and Fashion Galore! and North: Fashioning Identity at Somerset House.
This #FF, we take a look at 5 of the best mags showcased by @hymanarchive.

1. Hair to Stay, 1999

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Nothing beats a bit of ’90s body positivity. This rare find is an homage to hair, everywhere.

2.  Interview, 1999

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Logomania was alive and well in 1999 and Lil’ Kim’s Louis look is as bang on trend now as it was then.

3.  Modern Painters: New York Edition, 1998

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Talk about a power trio, Jeff Koons and David Bowie shot by Iman for this amazing cover story — we’re dying to know what’s inside.

4. Life, 1968

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Wait, 1968 or 2018? We’re still on this 50 years later.

5. SLEAZENATION, 2002

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Amateur porn to Welsh rap: yes please. SLEAZENATION was dubbed the “snottiest” of all the underground publications and we are into it.