I’ve been communicating with artist and musician Jooce Garrett for the last few weeks and he has provided me with a lot of media which I’ve put on his page. Although Jooce currently resides and has his atelier in Switzerland he grew up in Birmingham and told he me often cycled from Handsworth to Hednesford, via Brownhills, to visit his uncle. As I may have mentioned I am involved with a group of old fogies who keep the disused railway line between Walsall and Lichfield open as a community greenway and this runs through Brownhills. This is not only a practical activity but also social as it gets us out the house (and into the pub) and although we were only runners up in the recent King’s Award for Voluntary Service it is always nice to be acknowledged. Jooce is currently in a couple of bands including the Killadillas. He kindly scanned his copy of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ for me as I’ve not found a copy of this particular edition plus Jooce doesn’t think ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was ever published with his cover artwork.

Another cover David Tayler produced a rough for but which wasn’t used was for X97 ‘Of Whales and Men’ by R B Robinson. This was only published once by PAN in 1961 and they went with different artwork by Pat Owen.

The above clipping appeared In the Daily Mirror on the 14th November 1971 which mentions the trilogy of Elizabeth I books by Margaret Irwin. Having recently received my copy of ‘Page and Screen’ by John Mabey I looked to see if they were in it, which they were, but spotted a mistake. I contacted John to let him know and he thanked me and asked me to see if I  had any titles he may have missed so thinking cap on.

The clipping also mentions a couple of titles from popular PAN series including ‘Hitchcock’ and ‘Horror’

This weeks David Taylor roughs are for ‘The Gun’ by C S Forester’ There are four of them with one being very close to the finished cover which was used on at least seven PAN editions plus another by Simon Publishing. Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27/08/1899 to 02/04/1966) was an English novelist probably best known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the twelve book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars of which PAN published four titles. Forester was born in Cairo and died in California but with a blue plaque in Dulwich!

Last week I asked for guesses as to what a couple of David Tayler roughs might be for. After a few suggestions I think Alan Lewis and colleague win as I’m now 99.9% sure it was an unused idea for ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ by Christopher Landon. He suggested the second drawing was definitely a scene from the film and after looking at it I agree. I’ve added a still from the film to the page for G200 as back up to the suggestion. PAN published it twice with the first edition having a cover by Sam ‘PEFF’ Peffer but I’m not sure of the later one.

Now having got the last missing title people say ‘What next?’ Well apart from later PANs, catalogues, artwork, advertising and display material I do occasionally dabble in others publishers offerings. I recently featured the complete Agatha Christie ‘foxtail’ titles from Fontana with cover artwork by Martin Baker and now  I’m including what was listed as ‘The Corgi SF Collectors Library’ plus a few earlier titles with covers I like. Maybe a page of ‘Anticipation’ covers from Fleuve Noir might be coming up.

This week we have two David Tayler roughs which look very familiar but I can’t come up with a title or titles. I though they might be for a Nevil Shute but now I don’t think so. I’m still wondering if they are for two books or variants for just one. Can anyone help?

PAN published a wide variety of titles including those devoted to animal care. I picked up a copy of ‘Fraser’s Horse Book’ signed by Alistair Fraser, joint author along with Frank Manolson. This made me look to see if they had written anything else PAN published and I have come up with one for Fraser and another two for Manolson. I ordered a copy of one of them and after waiting three weeks I asked where it was and got the reply that when packing, it didn’t meet their high standard. I’ve not had that for a long time and I interpret it as either they can’t find it or decided it was being sold too cheaply but it would have been nice for them to contact me to let me know instead of the other way around. Now left trying to find another copy at a price I’m happy to pay.

Back in 2018 I mentioned Vladimir Koziakin and his Mazes Books of which PAN published a few. At the time I couldn’t find out if he was still with us but now the internet tells me ‘Vladimir Nicholas Koziakin (1943–1990) was an American graphic artist and author who pioneered the craze for thematic, illustrated maze books during the 1970s and 1980s. Working as a broadcast designer by day, he turned a personal drawing hobby into a highly successful publishing career, selling millions of puzzle books worldwide’

Just a quick note to say “Thank you” to all those who sent me messages of congratulations on obtaining the final title that I was missing from the 2,391 published by PAN between 1947 and 1969 before PAN switched to using SBNs. I’m hoping 2,391 titles is correct as I made a spreadsheet and entered all the numbers I knew of and this is what it came to. Sometimes there were duplicate numbers with different titles and some numbers were skipped so I can’t be 100% certain which just adds to the fun of the chase. There are still variants and covers I’ve not got and I’m always looking for artwork, catalogues, advertising and any ephemera  so if you can help please comment or email.

Following on from the above post where I mention there are still a lot of variants out there, I heard from Joe McLaughlin in Thorneside, Australia to say he had noticed I did not have the Australian Special Edition of ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and would I like a copy? Well how could I say no to his very generous offer and I have now scanned it in and added it to the page. Thank you Joe and I’m amazed at how fast it got here.

I picked up up a pack on line of what I thought were printer’s proofs but which turned out to be over 200 promo cards so was a bit disappointed but a few were of covers I have not got.  One example was for ‘Casino’ by Peter Baker which I’ve looked for but I’ve only turned up a copy in Indonesia. I don’t think I’m that desperate to go for that as it’s not really that interesting a cover. PAN also published ‘Cruise’ with a cover by Hans Helweg (which Pulp International erroneously attributed to Robert McGinnis, I have emailed them) which I saw in Hans studio. Both Baker titles I have are just ‘T’ and a SBN which means they cost 6/0 (30p in todays money)

‘Teddy Edward’ features is a series of books by Patrick and Mollie Matthews. PAN Piccolo published four titles based on the 1973 BBC TV programmes of which there were thirteen episodes. These were narrated by TV newsreader Richard Baker who also told the stories on records. There were annuals, stuffed toys, jig-saw puzzles and numerous other examples of merchandising. Patrick Matthews (1914–1996) worked as a writer, photographer, and cinematographer. He also served as a director for Condé Nast and managing director of Vogue Studios. Mollie Matthews (1919–2001), born Winifred Mary Berry, initially worked as a personal assistant to the head of the British Military Mission to France before marrying Patrick in 1951.

This weeks David Tayler rough is for 1960 edition of ‘The Cardinal’ by Henry Morton Robinson. PAN published three editions of this title, the later two having artwork by another PAN stalwart, Glenn Steward. Robinson (07/09/1898 to 13/01/1961) was an American novelist born in Boston and graduated from Columbia College in 1923 after serving in the US Navy during the First World War. He was an instructor in English at Columbia University, and a senior editor at ‘Reader’s Digest’ He wrote thirteen novels of which PAN only published the one. On December 23, 1960, he fell asleep in a hot bath after taking a sedative. Three weeks later, on January 13, 1961, he died in New York of complications from the resulting second  and third degree burns.

Looking at old newspaper and magazine articles I noticed this one in ‘The Bookseller’ for the 18th April 1959. Now wondering why there was a problem, was it a specific title published that caused the demand?

Yippee, it’s taken a long time but here it is at last!

For the last few years I have been hunting for X705 ‘Junior Crosswords Book 3’ and now thanks to the generosity of Elly and PAN’s archive team giving me a copy, I hope I have finally complete the collection of pre SBN editions. I think there are 2,391 titles with one of PANs numbers that were used before SBNs and ISBNs. I now have at least one edition starting at just number, then GP, followed by G, X, M and various other letter prefixes to indicate price. I also have all the PAN Piper titles which start with a double letter prefix.

It great to have it on the shelf as its space has been kept by a 4th printing with a SBN as a place filler.

People say “What are you going to do now you have them all?” well don’t worry there is still plenty of material out there including cover and printing variants, artwork, catalogues, advertising and associated ephemera plus later titles of course.

Thanks to Rog Peyton who spotted a mistake, not one of mine I hasten to add, but in the Signal toothpaste flyer. It listed PAN books due to be published in June but got the numbers wrong. They are listed as ‘G’ but in fact were actually ‘X’ I have checked with Elly, the PAN archivist, and she confirms they have no listing for any title with a number past G717. I see that elusive X705 is in there as G718! In the catalogue for June 1967 they have the numbers right.

I caught a trailer for Alan Carr’s TV programme ‘Chatty Man’ I’ve not been watching it but something caught my eye. There was a clip of an adult Alan Carr next to someone playing him as a teenager and it was the book he was reading. It is the 13th printing of ‘Dumb Witness’ from 1978 with an ISBN. PAN also published ‘Dumb Witness’ as number 82.

Last year we bought annual passes to the gold award winning Black Country Living Museum and realised they were nearly up so we fitted in a visit. We were glad we did as last month the reconstructed library opened. The historic Woodside Library from Dudley has been rebuilt brick-by-brick at the Black Country Living Museum. It opened on March 18th, 2026 as a centerpiece of its new 1940s-1960s high street development. Originally built in 1894, the restored library features over 6,500 books chosen from the 60,000 donated and reflects post-war community life and I was wondering if they might have something …….. and I wasn’t disappointed.

This weeks random author‏ is Australian Kathleen ‘Kylie’ Tennant 12/03/1912 to 28/02/1988) She was born in Manley, NSW and became a novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian. PAN published three of her titles namely X87 ‘The Battlers’, MP67 ‘Australia: Her Story’ and a later printing of ‘Australia: Her Story’ and finally a Piccolo ‘All The Proud Tribesman’

Amongst the many David Tayler roughs I recently acquired was a pencil one for ‘The Somme’ by A H Farrar-Hockley. The background is very similar but the larger characters at the front are not included on the finished cover. General Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar-Hockley (08/04/1924 to 11/03/2006) was born in Coventry. He was a British Army officer, nicknamed ‘Farrar the Para’ and a military historian who fought in a number of conflicts and ended his career as Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Allied Forces Northern Europe.

With the Hay on Wye Literary Festival almost on us I got an email from Roo Waterhouse to say she has been chosen to be the artist decorating this years tote bags. Her three designs include Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit and Agatha Christie as it is 50 years since she died.

Our random author of the week is E E Vielle. Eugene Emile “Tubby” Vielle OBE (29/4/1913 to 02/04/2015). He was born in Lambeth and his early education was at Dulwich College while later he was admitted to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. From there Viellee joined the Royal Air Force where he flew as many as 150 different types of aircraft before retiring from the RAF in 1957 as a group captain. He wrote eight books of which PAN published two, namely ‘The Shadow of Kuril’ and ‘No Subway’  Has anyone any idea as to who the cover artist might be?

This weeks David Tayler rough is for ‘Gale Force’ by Elleston Trevor. He was born Trevor Dudley-Smith on the 17th February 1920 and died 21st July 1995.  Trevor was a novelist and playwright who wrote under several pseudonyms including a series of Cold War thrillers featuring the British secret agent Quiller, written under the pseudonym Adam Hall. Trevor wrote over 100 books under names such as  Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith and Lesley Stone. PAN published at least ten of his novels I can think of off the top of my head. I may have to make a page to include them all.

Back in 1967 Signal Toothpaste gave away 12 PAN Book titles which they claimed were by world famous authors and they are probably right. To get one you needed to sent the ends of three toothpaste packets but they also listed other PAN titles that could be bought. I’m wondering if the give away copies were special promotional ones or just standard pritings?

I recently heard, via Rog Peyton, from Marion Ellis who was a friend of David Tayler. Her husband took photographs of David posing as references for his book covers for which David got paid £40. She sent me five which I have put on the page HERE which is my guess as to which cover they went with. Do you agree?

Sir Thomas Hicks (17/12/936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain’s first teen idol rock and roll star, actor, sculptor and writer. He wrote a children’s novel, ‘Quincy’ about a reject toy trying to save himself and his fellow rejects in a bin in the basement of a toy store. published in 1981. When I read this I was reminded of something similar, ‘The Raggy Dolls’, a British cartoon series which aired on TV in 1986. The series is set in Mr Grimes’ Toy Factory, where imperfect dolls are thrown into a reject bin. Any similarity I’m sure is purely coincidental! ‘The Raggy Dolls’ books were published by Boxtree, another PAN imprint.

It’s been a while since I communicated with Johnny Mains when he was talking about producing the ‘The PAN Book of Horror Stories Scrapbook’ which, unfortunately, didn’t materialise. I have the Les Edwards artwork that was going to be the cover and I know I have shown it before but it is worth a second look.. The reason Johnny got in touch was it was his 50th birthday and he got a personalised card from artist Richard Wells which makes me a little jealous. Click HERE to see it.