THE BLACK PERIL
This page details the differences between the original John
Hamilton published version of
THE BLACK PERIL published in 1935
and the later subsequent Dean and Son reprints published in the 1950's and
1960's as BIGGLES AND THE
BLACK PERIL. The differences are shown by me taking an
original Dean and Son reprint and then hand amending it page by page to convert
the text into the original text that was in the John Hamilton edition. Every change is recorded, even if it is only
a missing or additional exclamation mark or hyphen. You can imagine how long it
took me to do! I did this some twenty
years ago and I have now put scans up of the pages so you can see the actual
differences page by page. The bulk of
the changes appear to have been to update the book from the year when it was
set (referred to in the original text as 1934) to make it more modern for the
time it was reprinted. It was first
reprinted by the Thames Publishing Company around 1950/51. The Dean & Son
reprints appeared in the early 1960s, starting around 1961. The original aircraft in the John Hamilton first
edition is a "Vandal". Every reference to the Vandal becomes
something else in the later editions, usually the "amphibian". All
references to the "Vandal" and its performance and appearance are
changed. The updated story also removes all references to Germany to reflect
the post Second World War enemies as the Russians.
THE CHANGES
The first chapter is shown below in different coloured fonts. I tried to explain the changes line by line before
I realised that was an incredible amount of work for the whole book.
After the description to the changes in the first chapter, you can
click on the actual chapter headings to jump to scans of my hand written
amendments on the book itself and then move from page to page.
As an extra special treat you can also see the original extended
ending from THE MODERN BOY (dated 13th April 1935) which was cut for
the book publication!
Dean Page Number 7 - Five lines
down insert the word "vandal" before amphibian. Eleven lines up,
amend the sentence "They had travelled by road to the aerodrome" to
read "They had travelled by road to the Brooklands aerodrome where they had parked the amphibian after their return from
South America. There is then
a footnote adding the digit "1" to the end of "South
America" and at the bottom is added the footnote "Read 'The Cruise of the Condor by the same
author"
Dean Page Number 8 - Top line,
replace the word "home" by the words "to Brooklands". Seven lines up from the bottom where the paragraph
finished "maximum speed" add the new sentence "The revolution counter needle vibrated and
crept upwards and the air speed indicator leapt from ninety miles an hour to a
hundred and ten"
Dean Page Number 9 - Eleven lines
down there is a line which reads "the machine tilted in a swift
"S" turn, side-slipped, flattened out" (which incidentally is
the line illustrated by the colour frontispiece of the Hamilton edition).
The word machine should be replaced by the word "Vandal"
Dean Page Number 10 - Top line,
the words "Fog is the dickens" do not appear in the Hamilton edition
so should be deleted.
Dean Page Number 13 - Eleven
lines down the passage "Written in Russian, which I can't read to any
extent said Biggles, turning the paper over. Murski - looks like a name. Well
I'm dashed" should actually read "Gesellschaft Deutsche Contermann. Berlin, read Biggles turning the paper over. Well I'm dashed." Then
eleven lines up from the bottom the words "Russian machinery" should
read "German machinery".
Dean Page Number 14 - Four lines
down, after the word "hydrants" insert "Aren't they?". Thirteen lines up "Buried fiddlesticks!"
has no exclamation mark on it in the Hamilton edition. In the bottom line, the
words "manhole-cover" are not hyphenated in the Hamilton edition.
Dean Page Number 15 - Seventeen
lines up, the word "Russian" should be "German" and thirteen lines up, "Murski, Moscow" was
originally "Gontermann.
Berlin" (this being an
error in the original book as earlier it had been Contermann with a 'C'!). The
last words of the page continuing to page 16 are "their air-craft"
which should read "the
Vandal"
Dean Page Number 16 - Nine lines
down "this way too!" did not have an exclaimation mark on it
originally. Seventeen lines down, after the words "Big R.A.F. bomber,
perhaps?" should be inserted a further passage. "The only service bombers we have are fitted
with Rolls Kestrels or Napier Lions, and those we can hear are certainly
neither of those. There are half a dozen engines at least, and we've nothing
that size in this country". "Two or three machines doing exercises
perhaps""
Dean Page Number 17 - Four lines
down, "my suggestion" was originally "your suggestion". Nine lines up from the bottom "their
senses" was originally "their brains".
Seven lines up, the words "grass-covered" were not originally
hyphenated.
Dean Page Number 18 - Bottom
line, "our aircraft" was originally "the Vandal"
Dean Page Number 19 - Six lines
down "I can't just make her out" originally read "I can just make her out. Looks as big as the Do.X." Eleven lines up from the bottom, the word
"aircraft" should read "Vandal".
Dean Page Number 21 - Eight lines
up and fourteen lines up the word "amphibian" should read
"Vandal"
Dean Page 22 - Eight lines down,
the sentence "Silence answered him" originally just read
"Silence."
Dean Page 23 - Ten lines up the
word "home" originally read "to Brooklands".
(Dean Pages 7 to 23 but originally Hamilton pages 9 to 29)
CHAPTER TWO - GINGER TAKES A HAND
(Dean Pages 24 to 42 but originally Hamilton pages 30 to 52)
CHAPTER THREE - A RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHT
(Dean Pages 43 to 49 but originally Hamilton pages 53 to 60)
CHAPTER FOUR - IN THE ENEMY CAMP
(Dean Pages 50 to 58 but originally Hamilton pages 61 to 71)
(Dean Pages 59 to 67 but originally Hamilton pages 72 to 82)
(Dean Pages 68 to 76 but originally Hamilton pages 83 to 93)
(Dean Pages 77 to 89 but originally Hamilton pages 94 to 108)
CHAPTER EIGHT - A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES
(Dean Pages 90 to 101 but originally Hamilton pages 109 to 122)
(Dean Pages 102 to 113 but originally Hamilton pages 123 to 136)
(Dean Pages 114 to 123 but originally Hamilton pages 137 to 148)
CHAPTER ELEVEN - WHAT HAPPENED TO ALGY
(Dean Pages 124 to 131 but originally Hamilton pages 149 to 157)
(Dean Pages 132 to 143 but originally Hamilton pages 158 to 172)
(Dean Pages 144 to 150 but originally Hamilton pages 173 to 180)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - BLACKBEARD SPEAKS
(Dean Pages 151 to 165 but originally Hamilton pages 181 to 199)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - BIGGLES EXPLAINS
(Dean Pages 166 to 170 but originally Hamilton pages 200 to 205)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - A ONE-SIDED FIGHT
(Dean Pages 171 to 179 but originally Hamilton pages 206 to 216)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE RAIDERS' FATE
(Dean Pages 180 to 184 but originally Hamilton pages 217 to 222)