Latest Updates - Captain W. E. Johns

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Comment by annaloog:

I'd think that the 'real' authorship of, say, Mark Twain is fairly well known. That of, say, Carolyn Keene *, Saki, or Charity / Lee Blackstock (among many others), not as well known. Sometimes, it's a matter of how far the book uploader is willing to go to research the author, though I'd expect it's much easier to accept the book-in-hand at face value. Eventually, given time, patience and enough prodding, the better-known authors and their pen names will be assembled together.

* H'mmm, no BBcode link for pen names.

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Comment by 23skidoo:

@annaloog

Fair enough. Should I go back and correct the entries for Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew books (which I belive are listed by the author real name, though several different people wrote as Keene) or the books of Walter Wager who was often credited as John Tiger? I've been following incorrect instructions all this time.

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Comment by annaloog:

The guide to adding books (also) states, Do please add books using a single canonical version of an author's name, even if there is a variation of the name on the book cover. The name could be that which the author is best known, or how the author is referred to on Wikipedia, eg D. H. Lawrence, William Shakespeare, Margaret Atwood. [my emphasis]

The problem I see with using the "real name" (as here) is that it is not always obvious, and it's far easier to use the pen name, since that is ordinarily on the cover or title page. The copyright holder sometimes, but not always, is the author's real name.

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Comment by 23skidoo:

@ppint. Have you submitted a correction? If not I'll leave it to "annaloog" or another administrator to decide if to make the change. I do not know why Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain and a few others are entered under the pen names only but I was told 10 years ago we use real name and then indicate pen name in the appropriate field - with no exceptions.

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Comment by ppint.:

the author's name should be emended to "captain w. e. johns" - as upon the image of the book d-j -

- as this was by far and away his most-frequently used by-line;

- and bookcat already has 61 books listed under this, his preferred form of his name -

- plus a further 3 under the abbreviation, "capt. w. e. johns".

(and there are a further 23 books by him listed under the by-line "w. e. johns", iirc all scandawegian translations.)


captain w. e. johns did not, so far as yr hmbl srppnt. is aware, see any of his books published as by "william earl johnson" - and nor have they been so by-lined when reprinted/republished since his death.


it is established bookcat practice to list all of an author's books under their most commonly-used, preferred by-line: e.g. books by george orwell, books by j. r. r. tolkien, books by andre norton, books by lord dunsany - etc, etc. - noting variations and pseudonyms, where employed (excluding only house names), as pen-names in the field provided.

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Comment by ppint.:

collins/wm. collins sons/(variations) continued reprinting their armada imprint biggles p/b's until the middle of the 1980s. they closed the armada books imprint down in 1995.

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Comment by ppint.:

may fair books armada books imprint first printing, first uk p/b edition

cover art unsigned, uncredited
cover price 2/6
160 blue edge-stained pp.° including 4 unnumbered pp. indicia, titles etc, 1 end p. advertising ("armada books": 15 biggles titles, "ocean haul" douglas duff, and three titles each by malcolm saville, and by enid blyton)

° - the edge staining includes the edges of the card covers

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Comment by ppint.:

may fair books armada books imprint first printing, first uk p/b edition

cover art unsigned, uncredited
cover price 2/6
160 blue edge-stained pp.° including 6 unnumbered pp. indicia, titles, a blank p., "the way the air force says it" (nf); no additional end pp.

° - the edge staining includes the edges of the card covers