Biggles Does Some Homework
97.1 Norman Wright
Rarity:Published: 1997
Casing: Paperback
Pages: 140
Cover design and black and white ink frontispiece by Andrew Skilleter. The incomplete novel finishes mid-sentence on page 151 and then followed by a number of appendices. Price £25. Note: Issued in a limited edition of 300 numbered and approximately 25 un-numbered (proof and imperfect) copies.
Due no doubt to the cost this book can achieve on the aftermarket a number of 'faked' copies of the book have been circulating since mid 2013. The publisher has indicated you can spot the forgeries thusly.
It appears the fakes have covers copied from a genuine 1st edition but with the cover image trimmed closer to the edge, removing parts of the picture - thus Raymond is missing some fingers at the bottom, and part of the tree on the left hand side of the image is trimmed off. The big difference, however, is that on the fake copies the fraudster appears to have re-set the type and the word ‘BIGGLES’ on the title page is much narrower than on genuine copies. On a genuine copy the word ‘BIGGLES’ on the title page is as wide as the wording ‘Does Some Homework’ on the line beneath it. On the fake copies the word BIGGLES is about two letters narrower each side than this. I have also been told that the quality of the paper on the fake copies is inferior to the paper used for the genuine book.
If you have purchaced one of these books under the assumption it was an original please do inform the police of this fraudulent practice.