BIGGLES IN FRANCE

THE BOYS’ FRIEND LIBRARY PUBLICATION

Number 501 – Cover dated 7th November 1935

The original first edition

 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

 

 

This publication ran to 100 pages if you count the front cover as page 1 and the back page as page 100

Although it was actually numbered from the inner first page to the inner last page as pages 1 to 96

(The cover was referred to as pages i, ii, iii and iv)

 

 

I obtained my Boy’s Friend Library version of Biggles in France on Friday 21st June 2013,

which, coincidently, was also the 45th anniversary of the death of W.E. Johns on Friday 21st June 1968.

 

As so few people have actually seen a copy of this, I have put some photos up to show what it was really like.

 

It so happens that the cover of mine has become detached – but then it is 78 years old and was

never designed to last this long.  This fault has the advantage of making it nice and easy to scan!

 

 

Luckily, the spine (although it has some tape on) still largely remains intact when you put the cover back on the book

 

 

The inner covers looked like this.  Unfortunately mine has a bee sticker stuck on it!

 

 

 

Here is a picture of what it would look like if there was no sticker(!)

 

 

 

The first internal page contained the only illustration for the entire Biggles story

 

 

 

The story “Biggles in France” actually ends on page 92.  Here are the adverts that appear on Pages 92 and 93

 

 

And here are Pages 94 and 95.

There are some interesting comments about Biggles and “Flying-Officer” W. E. Johns

Note the “Notice to ‘Biggles’ fans” at the bottom of Page 95

 

 

 

On Page 96 there is an article called “Two Knights of the Air” that continues onto the back cover.

The back cover can be seen at the very top of this page.

 

 

 

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