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The Man in Ratcatcher
Sapper
[pseud of Herman Cyril McNeile]
This is a book of short stories by Herman Cyril McNeile (1888-1937), a soldier and author who wrote under the name Sapper
, which was given to him by a publisher, Lord Northcliffe. In the year before this book was published he created the character Bulldog Drummond.
First edition
Bibliography code: HOD-21.1
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Series: none.
Year: 1921
Format:
Pages: 313
Binding: pale blue cloth with title and author in black with black lines around the edge; title, author and publisher on spine.
Size:
Dust jacket signed: signed Blam, lower right
Internal illustrations: none
Price: 7 shillings 6 pence?
Printing history:
Printed by:
Notes: The design for the wrapper is only known from Blampied's personal album of dust jackets, it has not been seen on a copy of the book yet. Details of the book are taken from copies reported on the internet, which don't give all details. I assume that it cost 7/6d as this was the price of the first edition of 'David of Kings' by E.F. Benson, another well-known author, published in 1924. The number of pages is taken from the copy in the British Library and is 29 pages more than later editions. I wonder if a story was removed?
Image of wrapper from Blampied's album (click to enlarge)
The only wrapper I have seen for this title features a woman in a red hat pointing with a man behind her, priced at 2/6d, which is probably a cheaper reprint. This later impression or edition names the author as 'Sapper' on the jacket rather than Cyril McNeile, so perhaps it was a marketing decision not to use his real name and led to a quick change in the dust jacket design. I doubt that it was an error by Blampied as he was usually told what lettering to add, or it was added later by the publisher to his design. The motif of a rider on a bucking horse is used as a blind stamp in black on the front cover of later editions, mostly on blue cloth, which mimics the horse on Blampied's wrapper design, so I think his design must have been used if only for the first edition. If anyone has this book with Blampied's design for the jacket, please contact me.