DW Sleuths needed! An unusual copy of 'Contraband'...

The place to post anything DW-related
Locked
Friend of Bob
Level1
Level1
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon 8 Mar, 2010 14:38:13

DW Sleuths needed! An unusual copy of 'Contraband'...

Post by Friend of Bob »

Dear All

I am a total DW ignoramus, but I did come to know lovely Bob Rothwell some years ago when I found a copy of Dennis Wheatley's book Contraband in a charity shop. It is the Hutchinson Free Victory Gift for the Forces Edition. Bob and I had a lively exchange of emails and I promised to send him the book to look at. Sadly I lost his address and forgot all about it until I unearthed it during a study clear out this week. As I didn't have Bob's address I decided I would put the book on ebay (where it is now) and hoped he would get in touch. I should have realised what a small community DW fanatics were! In trying to track Bob down I came across this site, where I learned of his early death, not that long after we exchanged correspondence. I now know why he never wrote back. He was such a lovely man, and we had a spirited disagreement about this copy, which he was convinced might have been rebound, and I was convinced of the opposite. I was going to send it to him to settle the matter and tell him to keep it. I was quite upset to hear that he had died so unexpectedly. He was so warm and funny in our emails. I am sure he would be smiling at me now writing this, and once again telling me to READ some DW!

The reason I have joined this forum is to ask if anyone here has a copy of this book that I could compare notes on. I need to know the answer to the mystery! Opinion seems to be that there should be soft covers on it, whereas this has cardboard covers, although for the life of me it does not look altered in any way. Hence I told Bob to look for himself in the end, as I just could not see how a change had been made to it. The cover looks totally original, not cut or pasted or tampered with. We were baffled, but neither was prepared to give way!

An added interest to the book that Bob was intrigued by was the inscription. It was inscribed by a seaman (with dreadful writing!) and I managed to track down a photo of the ship he mentions, H.M Sloop, Wild Goose. As I remarked to Bob at the time, who would have thought such a modest little book could yield so much interest!

If anyone has any knowledge or pictures of the book in question, other than the one on the site, please post it up! I don't want to mislead anyone on Ebay who may contact me and subsequently be grumpy if I get it wrong. Equally, if it is intact I can make the point that it is untampered with. Here is the link to the ebay page if anyone wants to have a look:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :MESELX:IT

I have other photos that I can post here if needed. In fact I will take some close ups so you can see what I mean!

Many thanks, in advance, for any help that the DW community can offer.

Anna
Charles
Level5
Level5
Posts: 519
Joined: Sat 4 Jun, 2005 19:25:59
Location: U.K.

Post by Charles »

Dear Anna,

Among other things, Bob and I shared a love of early DW paperbacks, and while neither of us got a chance to handle it, we actually discussed your copy before he died.

Bob knew as much about the early paperbacks as anyone I know, and I know he had examined another copy some months before he saw yours. He was therefore in as good a position as anyone I know to compare the two, and as you say, his provisional opinion was that yours had been rebound.

Variants do exist however among the early paperbacks, and the only way to be 100% sure is to have a look.

Unfortunately the wonderful Bob is not around any more to give his further thoughts, and there probably isn't enough time for you to post it off to me or another aficionado to get their thoughts before the end of the auction . So long as your description on eBay is clear, which I personally think it is, potential buyers can make informed decisions, and that's the important thing.

If it turns out to be rebound, it will be a tribute to Bob's expertise. If it turns out to be a variant, I know Bob (wherever he may be) will be equally delighted.

Kind regards and best wishes
Charles
Charles
Level5
Level5
Posts: 519
Joined: Sat 4 Jun, 2005 19:25:59
Location: U.K.

Post by Charles »

Dear All,

I took this copy to a professional bookbinder of many decades experience today to seek his opinion.

Both he and his colleague are of the opinion that it has definitely been re-bound, with the original endpapers replaced and the paper covers mounted on cardboard backs.

Judging from the texture of the paper, which is already browning, he thinks it was done in the early 1950s, although that is a guess.

In addition, the book appears to have been cut down in the rebinding process - if you look at the scan that appeared on eBay, the bottom of the cover stops at 'Distributed by' and misses off the name of the distributor, which is present on the Random House copy. Altogether, if I compare it with a 'conventional'161st thousand, it is some 9mm shorter, and has lost about 4mm off the original width.

I think however it speaks very highlyof its original owner that they sought to preserve such an ephemeral item - many must simply have been discarded when after a few reads their original covers got torn.

It is nice that someone took the trouble to preseve this one. It may not have any great value, but it has a story to tell which is worthy of preservation in its own right.

Best to all as always !

Charles
Charles
Steve Whatley
Level5
Level5
Posts: 218
Joined: Sat 19 Aug, 2006 13:43:36

Post by Steve Whatley »

Dear Charles,

The 'expected' verdict then, so a tribute to your (and Bob's) judgement based on the description given to you.

I agree it's a nice thought that someone took such trouble to preserve this item.

Another DW mystery solved.

Best Wishes, Steve[font=Courier New] [/font]
Locked

Return to “General Topics”