I picked up four signed titles this week with one costing a little more than I was hoping to pay but then again that’s my fault for making my maximum bid what I did.
NUMBER 1 ‘Natural Causes’ by Henry Cecil from 1955. It is dedicated to a Hugh Manning who may or may not be the film and television actor.
Henry Cecil Leon was born in London (19/09/1902 to 23/05/1976) and wrote under the pen-names Henry Cecil and Clifford Maxwell. He became a British barrister, judge, and a writer of fiction about the British legal system with over 35 titles to his name.
NUMBER 2 ‘The Colditz Story’ by Pat Reid. It is dedicated to a ‘Paul’ and I could speculate it could be Paul Brickill as they were prisoners at Colditz together. I have several books I’ve got signed to me and they only say ‘Tim’ Maybe it should have my full name so in the future people will at least have a bit more information to guess who it might be?
Patrick Robert Reid, MBE, MC was born in India (13/11/1910 to 22/05/1990) As a British prisoner of war during the Second World War, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into neutral Switzerland in late 1942.
NUMBER 3 ‘A Chieftain Finds Love’ by Barbara Cartland is dedicated a ‘Justine’ but again no idea as to whom that might be. The book came with a booklet about Barbara Cartland and has several pages of her titles and indicates which were published by which publishers. It marks 105 as by PAN but I have 133 so not that accurate a guide! You can see more of her signatures HERE
Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, DStJ (09/07/1901 to 21/05/2000) was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland was a best-selling author worldwide having written over 700 books.
NUMBER 4 ‘My Friend Annie’ by Jane Duncan is flat signed with no dedication.
Jane Duncan (10/02/1910 to 20/10/1976) was the pseudonym of Scottish author Elizabeth Jane Cameron, best known for her ‘My Friends’ series of semi-autobiographical novels. She wrote 19 all together of which PAN published 14 and I’ll put them all on a page soon. She also wrote four novels under the name of her principal heroine Janet Sandison, and some children’s books.
