Having acquired eleven Nicholas Monsarrat covers from the 80’s I thought I had them all until a twelfth popped up on eBay. It was sold as a library copy being covered in sticky back plastic with a lot of creases and a label under the plastic. I thought it would be easy to find a better copy but I was wrong so I bought it. Luckily the sticker was under another layer of plastic but on top of the main covering. With a knife I was able to remove the sticker and with PaintShop Pro, most of the creases so I’m still on the look out for a belter copy or any other titles in this series I may have missed. I always remember George Sharp being adamant that ‘The White Rajah’ in this series was NOT by him although his name is on the back.
Isn’t it the way, you get one library copy with a label under the sticky plastic cover and then along comes another. This time it was for ‘Gilt Edge’ by Ian Moffitt. I’ve had an overprinted copy for a while where the word PAN on the front and spine is changed to Hinkler but which a bit of careful knife work I managed to get the label off.
Having mentioned the sad news of the death of George Sharp very recently there was a odd coincidence in that I got a members email from English Heritage regarding Blue Plaques in Fitzroy Square in London. It was in Fitzroy Square I first met George where he lived before moving to Hampstead. I hope they are going to put up a plaque to him.
Jules Burt has posted another of his excellent videos and this time it was a return visit to Dorset Bob who has a lot of PAN books although he specialises in Science Fiction (they start about 7 minutes 30 seconds in)
