 Desmond undertook an increasing role in his father's publishing activities (under the imprint of "A. Zwemmer Ltd.") while his younger brother John concentrated on the new and antiquarian bookselling side of their father's business.Desmond arranged co-editions of art books with European publishers (especially French, Swiss and German), such as Skira, Ernst Wasmuth and Fernand Hazan.He developed the firm's as a wholesale distributor of books, both at home and abroad, and promoted the then novel strategy of remainder sales of art books to the trade.