THE JOHN BUCHAN STORY
Peebles, Scottish Borders
Crask Books
Guides to John Buchan’s Writing by Peter Thackeray
– November 2019
In descriptions of John Buchan’s books there is often reference to ‘Blanchard’. In this article, Peter
explains the significance of the ‘Blanchard’ and the details of John Buchan’s writing. Please click on the
links below to read Peter’s articles.
Crask Books (formerly SMS Books) was formed out of my John Buchan collecting habit some 15 years ago.
Through a series of unexpected events we became, some 9 years ago, the largest dealers in the world of
books by and about John Buchan and his family. The aim is to keep as wide a range as possible but,
because of the extreme rarity of some of his works we can never have everything that was written by JB.
For full details of all our services, for a current stock list or for any book-related queries you can contact us
as follows:
email: peter.thackeray@ntlworld.com
telephone: (+44) 7947 733860
mail: 1 Halls Brook, East Leake, Loughborough, LE12 6HE
March 2020 - Strange times
Hello everyone
In these long weeks ahead of us perhaps the mood can be lightened by the pleasure of reading a newly acquired book so I have decided that from
now until the end of April, when I will review where we are, I will offer a 15% discount on all books listed on my stock list (attached). Most are
described on Abebooks anyway but, as always, feel free to email or phone with any queries you may have. To simplify matters further, there will be a
flat rate P&P charge of £3.50 on all books costing up to £20, £4.50 for books up to £100 and £9 for books above that price. This is to cover the cost of
fully insured post. This flat rate applies to single books; the postage charge on multiple books/sets of books will be charged at cost. For overseas
orders i will calculate the shipping cost at the time of ordering.
To order, simply phone or email the reference number and title of the book(s) you want and I will invoice you. No payment is needed until the books
are safely received. Payment can be made by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque and details of these means will be on the invoice. Card payments can
only be accepted via the Abebooks site and for orders made in this way the discount will be 10% (I have extra costs to pay). Because of their
accounting process that discount will be made by means of a refund after the order has been placed.
One new arrival to mention - this is one for the John Buchan completists. Blanchard B13 deals with A General Survey of British History, a projected
Nelson series only partly published. He states that "None of these except numbers 1 &2 contained Buchan's preface." Not so! Volume 12, The Age of
Queen Anne, also contains the preface but we will forgive our old friend his oversight as the preface, headed as such, appears at the back of the book
after the index - very strange. The copy I have is a first edition, bound in light brown cloth, and is in sound condition. However, the lettering on the
spine is considerably faded, although the spine itself is not. There are ownership inscriptions in a very neat hand on the paste-down and the fly-leaf,
seemingly by the same person. The price is £10 + postage as above.
Best wishes
Peter
March List
