THE DIFFERENT ILLUUSTRATIONS IN THE BIGGLES AIR DETECTIVE OMNIBUS

Certain illustrations from the first editions of the books were redrawn – nine in all – presumably in order to save the cost of reproduction of expensive colour plates

– here you can compare the new illustrations with the original colour ones.

For completeness, I also give details of which illustrations from the first editions are not reprinted in this omnibus.

By clicking on any of the original book titles, you can view all of the original first edition illustrations together in the order that they appeared.

SERGEANT BIGGLESWORTH C.I.D. The original first edition featured a colour frontispiece “The Approach of the Touregs” The original first edition featured a sepia plate between pages 16 and 17 of “Rudolf Preuss” There was then a sepia plate between pages 32 and 33 “A horse-cab took them to the Unterstrasse” The original first edition featured a sepia plate between pages 48 and 49 “By climbing on Biggles’s shoulders Ginger managed to make an entrance” There was then a sepia plate between pages 64 and 65 “Standing in the doorway he covered the passengers” There was then a sepia plate between pages 96 and 97 “Not bad, for a day’s work” There was then a sepia plate between pages 112 and 113 “What would Biggles do in a case like this?” There was then a sepia plate between pages 128 and 129 “It is for you to decide” (In this illustration Stead’s signature is NOT ringed) There was then a sepia plate between pages 144 and 145 “The Danakil stopped, and pointed with his spear. He would go no farther”	THE BIGGLES AIR DETECTIVE OMNIBUS VERSION This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn The same illustration, but this time in black and white, is on page 52 “A horse-cab took them to the Unterstrasse” This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn The same illustration, but this time in black and white, is on page 84 “Standing in the doorway he covered the passengers” The same illustration, but this time in black and white, is on page 97 “Not bad, for a day’s work” The same illustration, but this time in black and white, is on page 110 “What would Biggles do in a case like this?” The same illustration*, but this time in black and white, is on page 135 “It is for you to decide” (* In this illustration Stead’s signature is ringed) The same illustration, but this time in black and white, is on page 155 “The Danakil stopped, and pointed with his spear. He would go no farther”
BIGGLES’ SECOND CASE The original first edition featured a colour frontispiece “Flying on over the fugitives he dropped it overboard” There are various small illustrations on the title page, page 9, page 46 and page 82 There was then a black and white illustration on page 37 “They did not move” There was then a black and white illustration on page 55 “Men could be seen looking up. One waved.” There was then a black and white illustration on page 75 “By gosh! There’s the sub!” cried Ginger suddenly. “She’s there! We’ve got her!” There was then a black and white illustration on page 103 “There will be no next time,” said von Schonbeck.” The original first edition featured a black and white illustration on page 127 “Ginger grabbed the weapon, swung the muzzle round” There was then a black and white illustration on page 163 “Biggles, pistol in hand, stood at the foot of the steps”	THE BIGGLES AIR DETECTIVE OMNIBUS VERSION This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn None of these small ‘vignette’ illustrations feature in the Omnibus The same black and white illustration is on page 213 “They did not move” The same black and white illustration is on page 227 “Men could be seen looking up. One waved.” The same black and white illustration is on page 244 “By gosh! There’s the sub!” cried Ginger suddenly. “She’s there! We’ve got her!” The same black and white illustration is on page 266 “There will be no next time,” said von Schonbeck.” This illustration does not feature in the Omnibus. The same black and white illustration is on page 315 “Biggles, pistol in hand, stood at the foot of the steps”
ANOTHER JOB FOR BIGGLES The original first edition featured a black and white frontispiece “Biggles turned to face the horsemen – a wild-looking lot” There are various small vignette illustrations on the title page, page 9, page 16, page 17, page 31, page 33, page 49, page 55, page 66, page 89, page 113 and page 144, There was then a colour plate between pages 32 and 33 “Biggles had his automatic out before the Arab could draw his dagger”	THE BIGGLES AIR DETECTIVE OMNIBUS VERSION The same black and white illustration is on page 443 “Biggles turned to face the horsemen – a wild-looking lot” None of these small vignette illustrations feature in the Omnibus The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 389 “Biggles had his automatic out before the Arab could draw his dagger”
There was then a colour plate between pages 48 and 49 “He splashed more water on the thin face”	The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 365 “He splashed more water on the thin face”
There was then a colour plate between pages 96 and 97 “The man whipped out a revolver and fired it over the fuselage”	The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 434 “The man whipped out a revolver and fired it over the fuselage”
There was then a colour plate between pages 112 and 113 “Reeling like a drunken man Ginger blundered blindly into the desolation”	The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 416 “Reeling like a drunken man Ginger blundered blindly into the desolation”
BIGGLES WORKS IT OUT The original first edition featured a colour frontispiece “Algy” There are various small illustrations on the title page, page 22, page 42 and page 54, The original first edition featured a colour plate between pages 31 and 33 “What is this supposed to be?” asked Biggles There was then a colour plate between pages 40 and 41 “He picked it off with great care”	THE BIGGLES AIR DETECTIVE OMNIBUS VERSION This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn None of these small ‘vignette’ illustrations feature in the Omnibus This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 514 “He picked it off with great care”
There was then a colour plate between pages 56 and 57 “Stand well back everyone”	The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 530 “Stand well back, everyone”
The original first edition featured a colour plate between pages 96 and 97 “It struck Algy that it had exceptionally heavy tyres” Interestingly, here is the original first edition dust jacket cover for this book	This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 575 “He turned to look back over his shoulder”
The original first edition featured a colour plate between pages 128 and 129 “He had hoped to find Marcel. Instead, Marcel had found him” There was then a colour plate between pages 132 and 133 “A quick search was made”	This plate does not feature in the Omnibus, nor is it redrawn The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 601 “A quick search was made”
There was then a colour plate between pages 156 and 157 “They had no fear that they would try to run away”	The same scene has now been redrawn and is now on page 620 “They had no fear that they would try to run away”

Above is the original artwork that was opposite Page 156 in the first edition of Biggles Works it Out. This used to be in my private collection

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