What a year it has been! I’d like to say not being able to get out and visit places has saved a bit of money but I think I’ve actually spent more stuck in front of the computer searching online. On the plus side I have been in contact with some very interesting people who are trying to keep themselves safe as well and are hoping, like me, for the vaccine in the New Year.

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This weeks Hans Helweg artwork is for ‘Rogue Roman’ by Lance Horner. Just looking at it through the overlay which has really gone brown you don’t appreciate the how vivid the colours have stayed over the last fifty years. I have also been lucky enough to get a preliminary sketch and possible alternative cover which I’ve put on the page.

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I recently got a unread boxed set of Judy Blume titles in Piccolo editions with most of the covers by artist Yvonne Gilbert. Click HERE to see them. I emailed Yvonne and she very kindly replied “Nice to meet you! Wow! Thank you. How on earth did you find them? My goodness—that was so long ago. I don’t know if I’d even recognise them these days. I vaguely remember them and you’re probably right about the date. The artwork probably never came back to me because most of it didn’t in those days—there’s certainly no trace of it now. The 3 titles sound somewhat familiar but it was pre-computer days so I have no record. You have reminded me how much has changed—posting artwork, having to take photographic slides, never seeing the artwork again! I feel bad that I can’t be more helpful Tim. I had a look at your site—I love those pulp fiction covers. I would love to have had some of that artwork!”

I’m pleased to announce that this website has come of age being 21 years old on the 16th December. When I set it up back in 1999 it was cutting edge with frames, a higher than usual resolution and search etc. but time has moved on and every year I say I will update it BUT every year I manage to find ‘new’ old bits and pieces to distract me so the update gets put on hold. On the plus side a lot of the covers are now at a much higher resolution and size as I tend to rescan if I mention them in a blog but on the negative side it’s a really boring job! Maybe the update will never happen as I am a firm believer in if it ain’t broken then don’t fix it, it’s just a bit clunky and showing it’s age, rather like me.  Anyway here’s a joke from the latest edition of ‘Private Eye’ which amused me as it is pertinent in the trying times.

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After trying for many years I’ve managed to obtain, thanks to Sam Peffer’s niece Kathy, two videos relating to the infamous Bonhams auction of ‘Original Paperback Cover Artwork from the PAN Archives’ held of 15th October 1991. They are self explanatory so I’ll just put the two links to ‘YouTube’ where I uploaded them for everyone to find.

Thames News Report from on the Day

The ‘Late Show’ from BBC 2

I captured this screen shot of the artist outside Bonhams but there is still one I have not managed to identify.

They are from left to right Rex Archer, Hans Helweg, Sam Peffer, ?, Edward Mortelmans and Pat Owen. Anyone help with a name as I’m sure I vaguely recognise him?

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The author featured this week is George Macdonald Fraser. I recently picked up a few bits and pieces from his estate on eBay including a letter to him from PAN plus a PAN printers proof. As I have the other items I  include them on his page although not PAN but later titles PAN didn’t publish. George Macdonald Fraser’s extensive library was sold at auction and a catalogue can be viewed online by following the link HERE

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NEWS JUST IN It was reported that John Le Carre died on Saturday. I’ll rescan all his covers for a tribute soon. From the web;
“LONDON (AP) — John le Carre, a spy turned novelist who became the preeminent writer of espionage fiction in English, has died at age 89 Le Carre’s literary agency, Curtis Brown, said Sunday that he died in Cornwall, southwest England on Saturday after a short illness. The death was not related to COVID-19. Born David Cornwell, le Carre worked for Britain’s intelligence service before turning his experience into fiction in works including “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy” and “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.”

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Hans Helweg’s original artwork resumes next week. plus may have some great related news if the postman delivers by then.

I got an email from Sue Bell, Hans Helweg’s widow to ask if I would like a couple of folders of his sketches etc she had found while clearing out his studio. It would have been rude of me to refuse and what I received was a real treasure trove of preliminary sketches for covers for PAN, Puffin and a few other publishers. I will be adding them to the appropriate covers when I can work out which is which. Some are very obvious, so not so and some are a complete mystery so far but I do like a challenge.

This is just to show a random selection.

I’ve just heard from Colin Larkin the sad news his brother, David,  passed away last Tuesday. Colin said he had only been speaking to him on Saturday as David had just got his copy of ‘Cover Me’ I’ll try and do a blog about his time as Artistic Director at PAN in the 70s and 80s later.

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After spending more time (and money) that they justify I’ve decided to publish my updated page of Ed McBain titles although not finished but then again will it ever be?. The problem has been, like the Travis McGee titles, that PAN often just added a new cover to an old text block without amending the date so dating becomes difficult. This time I’ve put them under title in writing date order and I know there are still several variants to add as I have images but usually shown by sellers as the hated ‘stock’ photo! If I get another 1981 copy of ‘The Empty Hours’ clearly listed as the 1992 edition with photo of same! Luckily have got my money back on them all but I’d rather have the book I was expecting.

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I spotted a couple of what I though were signed books on eBay but it turns out they were actually printers proofs signed by one of the authors namely Dan Morgan. They were for two of the four titles in the ‘Venturer Twelve’ series, three by Dan and John Kippax while the fourth was a title just by Kippax. Still no idea who the cover artist might be, anyone know?

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This weeks Hans Helweg artwork is for ‘The Reef’ by Keith Wheeler. Although Wheeler wrote several books PAN only seems to have published two, ‘The Reef‘ and ‘Peaceable Lane’ which might have a cover by Pat Owen? I like the way the artwork still has its colour ‘swatch’ for the title as this sort of thing, like the numbers, logos and even the titles, have got lost over the years.

This weeks artwork by Hans Helweg is ‘Portrait of a Young Man Drowning’ by Charles Perry (1924–1969) He was an African American author who was born in Savannah, Georgia. This was his only published novel intended as a homage to James Joyce’s ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ The book was made into the film ‘Six Ways to Sunday’ from 1997 staring Debbie Harry and Isaac Hayes.

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Having mentioned ‘Testament’ by David Morrell before, I was interested to see a copy of ‘Testament – The Unpublished Prologues’ on offer but as usual I should have done a little more research. The seller listed it as by PAN so I bought it but turns out it is from Subterranean Press but on the plus side it is a signed limited edition so one for the archives.

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Another bit of ephemera I found was a bookmark listing several Sherlock Holmes titles now in ‘uniform editions’

Although it lists ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes’ I can’t seem to find any record of PAN actually publishing ‘Casebook’ in the mid 70s but ‘Memoirs’ is listed in a box set that is supposedly ‘in the post’ to me from the US as I type, I’ll update if it arrives but if any one can help with the other title …..?

After 30 years of planning and research I am really pleased to see that ‘Cover Me’ by Colin Larkin is NOW available to purchase from Telos Publishing I have to declare an interest as I’ve know about this since 2004 and I am credited as Chief Consultant. I don’t think I’m down for a cut (am I Colin?) but in spite of that I would recommend you buy a copy anyway. Colin has used his extensive collection of nearly 600 original artworks as the basis and the focus is on the artists themselves. I have read it at least twice since then and really enjoyed immersing myself in those high quality images that leap off the page. Colin has produced a magnificent work that does justice to all those unsung, well up to now, heroes of the paint brush. I managed to put Colin in touch with artist Derek Stowe, Kathy Ford (Sam Peffer’s Great Niece) and he has also used some of my biography of Hans Helweg plus there are plenty of plugs for the website. The cover is based on ‘The D.A. Takes a Chance’ by Sam ‘PEFF’ Peffer and the photo below shows Kitty posing on their own bed and candlewick bedspread.

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I like it when I come across something PAN books related especially if it’s ephemera that would normally be thrown in a bin. This time it was a matchbook with some Raymond Chandler titles listed on the inside and a quote from ‘Farewell My Lovely’  on the outside. The quote is a bit odd in that as far as I can tell PAN never published this title! Click on the matchbook to see the the other side.

The matchbook was made by Bouldens of Southampton (choose Bouldens in the drop down manufacturer link) who specialised in these. It seems odd they mainly produced them for local hostelries but surprisingly the ‘House of Commons’ although not other national companies like PAN. I wonder if they did any others?

I hadn’t noticed until I went to scan the section from the book that the text in that and on the matchbook is slightly different as in one the barman ‘stooped’ but in the other he ‘stopped’ The former is the correct version.

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This weeks piece of original artwork from Hans Helweg I recently acquired is for ‘Christy’ by Catherine Marshall. As far as I can ascertain this is the only one of her books published by PAN although they list three others on the back. Her full name was Catherine Sarah Wood Marshall LeSourd (27/09/1914 to 18/03/1983) and she wrote over thirty works of fiction and non fiction with ‘A Man Called Peter‘ made into a film in 1955 and ‘Christy’ a TV Movie and Series in 1994.

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Just heard last night from Kathy Ford (Sam Peffer’s Great Niece) to say she was successful in her trip to Islington on the 3rd of November which would have been Sam’s 99th Birthday. She wrote “All went smoothly with reuniting Kit and Sam. The weather was dry and sunny and not too cold.  I attach a pic of the headstone and flowers following the interment. Kit loved sweet peas and lily of the valley which she cut from the garden and dotted round the house in vases when they were in bloom, I can still remember the perfume from them” RIP Sam and Kathy

This weeks artwork from Hans Helweg is for ‘The White Rabbit’ the story of Wind Commander F F E Yeo Thomas by Bruce Marshall. I was pleased to see it was one of the few where Hans signature is quite obvious often having to search for a little HH hidden away somewhere. The acetate overlay has not stood the test of time well becoming very dark, like most of them from the 1960’s, but at least it is still attached. The artwork underneath appears as fresh and vibrant as it probably was when it was painted.

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In one of those weird coincidences I heard from artist Paul Davies in Cheltenham, which was also where the Helweg artwork came from, to say he has published two books in support of a local charity, Longfield.. He is selling them at cost and if you are interested you can find details HERE.

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Last week was a sad one in that we had to make the decision as to whether or not to have our elderly cat Scruff, who was in his late teens, put to sleep. The saddest part was he was still lively but just couldn’t eat due to problems with his kidneys and ulcers related to this. We like to think, that since he decided we would do as a home in 2009, he made the most of his time with us. Here is Scruff, the black and white one, with his possible daughter behind him, the mother of the daughter in the foreground and ‘Lady’ the fox. We’ll all really miss your Scruff. XXX

I heard from Kathy, Sam and Kitty Peffer’s Great Niece last week to say “Next week we are finally able to lay Kit to rest, next to her Sam, on his 99th birthday. Am not looking forward to the day, especially as I have to do the round trip to Islington Crematorium without being able to stop. I will be able to relax more knowing they are reunited” Sam was born on the 3rd November 1921 in Islington. He designed his memorial stone and left room for Kitty to be added when eventually the day would sadly come.

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This weeks Hans Helweg artwork is not one but three covers all for the same author. George Alexander Graber (9 September 1914 – c. 9 July 1997) was born in Ceylon and died in Denbighshire and wrote under the pen name of Alexander Cordell. He was a prolific Welsh novelist and author of thirty acclaimed works which includes the ‘Welsh Trilogy’ published by PAN along with another three titles. My three artworks are the ones HERE that have a border with instructions around them which is part of their attraction.

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If anyone could help there are several Invisible Ink books I would like to get including;
Codebreakers Deborah Manley
0330 295624 1986
Crazy Cook Anni Axworthy
0330 283774 1984
Galactic Invaders Naomi Games
0330 283782 1984
Invaders in Space Naomi Games
0330 286986 1985
Animal Magic Naomi Games
0330 295632 1986
Treasure Hunt Scoular Anderson
0330 303856 1988
Mystery Pictures 1 Michael Holt
0330 266543 1982
Mystery Pictures 2 Michael Holt
0330 280775 1983
Number Games 1 Michael Holt
0330 267493 1982
Number Games 2 Michael Holt
0330 281348 1983
Dinosaur Puzzle Book Richard Dawson
0330 303813 1988
Puzzle Book of Monsters Alison Boyle
0330 303821 1988
Animal Counting Book Deborah Manley
0330 303872 1988
Crazy Haunted Castle Peter Sims
0330 304658 1988
Christmas Fun Book Deborah Manley
0330 304666 1988
Zoo Fun Book Richard Dawson
0330 305166 1988
Spotty and Striped Puzzle Book Naomi Games
0330 298038 1987
Amazing Animal Puzzle Book Groom
0330 30383X 1988
Secret Agent’s Puzzle Book Alison Boyle
0330 303848 1988
A.B.C.Fun Book Deborah Manley
0330 303864 1988
I though I had found the ‘Spotty and Striped Puzzle Book’ but even though the seller told me it was available and they had posted it, it suddenly became unavailable as it was not up to their usual high standard. From some I’ve had off them it has never stopped them before! On the plus side I did find ‘Word Games 2’ so I’ve added it to the page HERE

A bit like buses, you wait for one then two come along at once or in this case books. I was contacted recently by Steve Chibnall asking if I could put him in touch with the daughter of a cover artist I had mentioned in a blog as he had been commissioned to write a book on him.  I asked her if she was happy with this which she was but it then turns out she has just written a forward for another book on her father’s work!
Steve may have not been too happy to hear this but I came out of it very well with Steve kindly offering me some PAN point-of-sale  materials for a very reasonable price. These consist of three book standees and a ‘Whiteoaks’ cards. Now if only some one who has one for ‘Book of the Month’ wants to sell it ……!

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Since having recently acquired the Kevin Tweddell triptych for Pamela Belle’s ‘Heron’ series I have been in communication via Messenger and she has very kindly sent me a couple of copies of her books from her collection as they have the title in a straight style of font rather than a cursive one. This now means I now have 8 of the 9 nine different editions. These are 5 of 6  from PAN and 3 later hardback from Severn House (PAN may have also used it for their hardback editions but not sure)  that used the Tweddell artwork, just ‘Alathea’ with the title in a cursive script to go.

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This weeks artwork by Hans Helweg is slightly damaged in that it has lost a couple of inches off it’s top! It’s ‘Love Let Me Not Hunger’ by Paul Gallico for which Hans was paid £50. Just looking at the book cover as opposed to the artwork you cannot really appreciate how much skill has gone into painting the couple in the foreground.

I recently spotted an edition of Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Fiesta’ or ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (the US title used for the film) which I thought I had but on looking on the shelves found I hadn’t. I’ve now got a copy and added it to the website which now makes nine different/variant covers from 1949 to 1974. I often wonder why PAN felt the need to change some covers while happily used the same one on other titles for many years, I’m think of the ‘PAN Book of Card Games’ which was used from 1960 through to the early 90s.

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Well my ‘Author of the Week’ idea didn’t last long so it is now changed to ‘Random Author’ when I remember! This time it is James Henry Stanley Barlow who was born on the 1st December 1921 in Kings Norton, Birmingham which I didn’t know. Nice to find a local author from only a few miles away. In 1939 he was even closer when he moved to 51 Crossway Lane, Kingstanding and was employed as a meter clerk with the Birmingham Corporation Water Department as was my uncle, I wonder if they ever met? After travelling around, including Australia, he finally moved to Beechmount, Sarsfield Court, Glanmire, Cork where he died on the 30th January 1973. He is buried in St. Lappans Church, Little Island, Co. Cork. As far as I can ascertain PAN published six of his thirteen titles. Click HERE to see these titles.

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Popped down to Cheltenham to pick up several original cover artworks by Hans Helweg. I managed to do it before the new travel restrictions came in – my wife always said it would all end in tiers!. I shall be adding them over the next few wekss and HERE is the first one. This one was a ‘freebie’ as the paint is flaking so I’ve kept it in a cellophane sleeve but does anyone know how to stabilise it?