Biggles’ Chinese Puzzle, W E Johns, h/b. dw, good

A 1958 (2^nd) printing in original publisher, Brockhampton, in good – very good condition complete with dust wrapper, also good.

W E Johns was a master of the short story and here are eight of his finest.

Hold your breath while Biggles & Co. expose a currency racket in Indo-China, rescue a geologist from torture in a sinister mental home, or snatch luminous blue clay from a sinking volcanic island in the Pacific.

Dust wrapper is in good condition, a little rubbing in the usual places and the tiniest bit missing in the bottom right corner.  Price unclipped.  Seen in strong light there’s an indentation on the front picture, as if someone has written a number on a piece of paper that was on top of the book.  Too indistinct to make it out fully though.

The boards are very good, maybe slight fading if you look closely, light bumping to base of spine but surprisingly little elsewhere.  The spine is tight and with only a very slight lean.

Inside there’s an owner’s name but otherwise the pages are good, little if any fading, I’ve found one page with a thumbprint, which is annoying because otherwise the pages really are very good.  Stead’s colour illustrations are also all in very good condition and typically evocative.

Lovely book, great value for the starting price.