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
January 2020 - New book in stock + paper back version of
Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps
Hello everyone
Well, the new year seems to be flying by just as fast as the old one so time for a couple of updates.
Firstly, although I have not generally been buying in books over the last few month or two but I have acquired
one rarity. Susan Buchan wrote a number of children's stories and this is one of them, as described below.
Please contact me by email or phone if you are interested. The price excludes postage/shipping.
9716 Jim and the Dragon by Susan Buchan (1929)
VG+ in VG- dustwrapper. Susan Buchan wrote a number of children’s books and this is a charming fantasy
story about a young boy and a talking dragon (with a Cockney accent!), It also features elves and a talking
glow-worm. It features attractive, delicate line drawings by George Morrow. Bound in green cloth with gold
lettering on the spine and black lettering and an illustration on the front. There are illustrated green
endpapers and the book is printed on semi-gloss paper. This copy is in excellent condition with just a faint
bump on the top edge of the front cover. There is a pencilled presentation inscription on the fly-leaf. The
extremely rare d/w is not price-clipped and remains very bright. There is slight wear at the ends of the spine
and there are two small closed tears along the top edge. Rare in any event, much more so with a d/w.
GBP100
Secondly, many of you bought a copy of Ursula Buchan's biography of her grandfather, Beyond the Thirty-
Nine Steps. On 5 March the paperback version will be published at the RRP of GBP10.99. I will be able to
offer copies at GBP12.00 inclusive of UK postage. This edition would make an excellent gift for a wide range
of reader or a lower-cost alternative to the hardback versions; it has been widely acclaimed and, for instance,
all reviews on Amazon rate it at 4 or 5 stars (mostly 5). All the feedback I have had from purchasers has been
positive. If you would like a copy (or copies) please let me know by 28 February 2020. Payment (not needed
with your order) can be made by sterling cheque, PayPal or internet bank transfer. Potential overseas buyers
should enquire as to the additional shipping cost.
Kind regards
Peter Thackeray
Crask Books
