AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM CAPTAIN W.E. JOHNS
(plus some interesting enclosures)
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Nov 21 1954 Dear Mr. Norton: Thank you for your
appreciative and interesting letter. The trouble is, I sold the copyrights
of the first five Biggles books, and so not only lost control of them but
sight of them as well. However, having
been sold and resold they have recently come to light. Biggles Flies Again, the Cruise of the
Condor and the Black Peril have been re-issued (in a different format) by the
Thames Publishing Co, Ludgate House, Fleet St, London – through Woolworths +
Marks + Spencers.
I have written new forewords (at my own request) to the Camels are
Coming + Biggles of the Camel Squadron (the old P.F. (Popular Flying) stories) + these are due to appear very
soon. They are owned, I believe, by
Latimer House Publishing Co. that is all I know about them; but I will get my
agent to look them up and suggest an omnibus.
Next year Brockhampton Press (Leicester) are to re publish “Biggles
Learns |
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to Fly” in their ordinary
series. This was a book of 1st
war stories, written about 1933. I may say that so many
people are trying to get a complete collection of Biggles that first editions
of the early stories are becoming valuable.
I have been offered large sums for them, but alas! I have only one file copy myself. The next book “Biggles in
Australia” is due for publication in March Yours Sincerely, W. E. Johns P.S. I now have Biggles in 17 languages! |
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This letter was written and
posted on Sunday 21st November 1954. It is post marked 5.00 pm on that date, which
is interesting as it was definitely a Sunday.
Did the Post Office work on Sundays in 1954? Apparently so! What is even more
interesting is the envelope that W. E. Johns used appears to be a special
one, presumably printed by his French publishers “Presses De La Cite”. It advertises Johns’ books in French on the
cover! The orange flash on the
left hand side of the envelope is pre-printed and not stuck on. |
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The lucky recipient of this
letter was also sent a double sided leaflet setting out a list of W.E. Johns’
books available to buy. On the front there is an
excellent picture of Bill Johns from the First World War (with a facsimile
signature) and on the back page there is an illustration of both Worrals and
Biggles. The illustration of Worrals
is taken from the cover of “Worrals of the Islands”
and the illustration of Biggles is taken from the frontispiece of “Biggles Takes a Holiday”. Both pictures are by the
artist Leslie Stead |
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A further booklet was also with the letter – as
below |
The introduction to the
list of books was also used as an “Author’s Note” in the “Hampton Library”
Biggles reprints (although the speed of aircraft was updated for those to be
from 150 to over 1,500 mph!). The last
line is of great interest. “The
following list shows roughly the order in which the books were written”. This shows that Biggles of the Camel Squadron
was written before Cruise of
the Condor, Flies East
was written before Hits the
Trail and, importantly, it confirms my point that South Seas must have been
written before Baltic. It is interesting to note that the order of
the books does not follow the recognised list as per the publication order
(as can be seen on my main page at www.biggles.com) |
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And finally, if all of the
above was not enough, W. E. Johns enclosed a
signed photo! I particularly like this
one – although a well-known and regular photo that Johns’ used – this one has
been printed in such a way that the picture is much lighter than usual,
making it easier to actually see the autograph on the photograph. Normally, the autograph is
on the dark suit and the photo is much darker, making it very hard to see the
autograph ……… |
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CLICK HERE TO LINK TO ANOTHER
INTERESTING LETTER FROM W. E. JOHNS CLICK HERE TO LINK TO ANOTHER
INTERESTING LETTER FROM W. E. JOHNS CLICK HERE TO LINK TO A VERY
INTERESTING LETTER FROM ENID BLYTON TO W. E. JOHNS |
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