Private Noddy collection up for auction

[simonb]

A Private collection of noddy first editions and proof books plus original water colours owned and signed by the illustrator peter wienk will be auctioned off at waterman auction rooms this friday 6 april .

this is a very nice private collection and the books and the water colours are in excellent condition and have been well preserved with most of the books having their dustjackets .

Let me add these books have been verified by sothebuys acution house and several other specialists as first editions and proof books,

finally letters of correspondance and records of work carried out by peter for samson lowe are part of this collection .

also we are aware that many other ilustrators were working on noddy books after beeks death , howwer peter is the only one who worked with beek . and has correspondence from enid blyton thanking him for his continuation and wondefull illustrations ,

[Tony Summerfield]

You have rewritten your original message, Simon, but I thought it would be more helpful if I also posted the link to these items.

http://www.watermansauctionrooms.co.uk/Lots.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you obviously took what I said in my email with a pinch of salt I will repeat what I said here and that is that some of these books are definitely not first editions. I appreciate that you say that they have been verified by experts and you possibly don't want to accept the word of a rank amateur, but I have to say that I disagree with these experts.

As I said in my email to your wife, I think the main appeal of these books is that they were owned by Peter Wienk who worked with Beek and they are also signed by him. I have added a picture of the first lot for people to see.

[Eddie Muir]

As you obviously took what I said in my email with a pinch of salt I will repeat what I said here and that is that some of these books are definitely not first editions. I appreciate that you say that they have been verified by experts and you possibly don't want to accept the word of a rank amateur, but I have to say that I disagree with these experts.

You may consider yourself to be a rank amateur, Tony, but I reckon your knowledge of the various editions of Enid Blyton books is far superior to any of the so-called experts!

[Moonraker]

Well said, Eddie. I know whose word I would trust! An interesting collection, all the same, Simon. Rest assured, Tony Summerfield does know what he is talking about!

[simonb]

i find it hard to belive that elco would have given peter reprints

[simonb]

Although i shouldn’t be drawn in to this conversation, i think it’s only fair to say that i do not for one minute ,doubt Tony’s expertise at identifying first editions, however with all respect, Tony is not aware of the extent of this collection and frankly the few photos on the auction web site don’t do the collection any justice. So to make an assumption that the books are not first issues is in my opinion jumping the gun and not only is Tony and expert but in my opinion clairvoyant.

The fact of the matter is that there are over 60 books from book 1 onwards plus several big books and popups etc. many of which were given to Peter by Elco and Fritzi this backed up with correspondence from David white of Samson low corresponding to books that peter illustrated.
Which are a lot more than he has been credited for , and to work from book 2 until 1970 as a full time Noddy illustrator would seem to back up the fact that peter did a considerable amount of work on Noddy .
Furthermore Peter recalled receiving a brand new book on a regular basis directly from David white.

Whilst I have no doubt that some of the books maybe reprints (although none of the earlier ones are dated, and seem to conform to all the pointers of being first issues ) the bulk of the collection in many peoples opinion are first issues which include proof books with altered illustrations to the originals and on some pages no illustrations at all .

[Tony Summerfield]

No, I am certainly not a clairvoyant, but I have been familiar with Noddy books for 25 years and with some of them I can tell at a glance what to look for. Other books are virtually impossible to identify without looking at the flaps of the dustwrapper. I have tried to make the illustrations in the Cave of Books as helpful as possible.

I am well aware that Peter Wienk illustrated a great many Noddy books and I am sure that I have some of his work as 'uncredited' in the Cave, and I would dearly like to put this right but I can only do so with help. The sheer volume of Noddy books made it impossible for Peter to do everything, particularly as he was responsible for the annual Big Noddy Books which must have required many long hours of work. However, even if he hadn't illustrated one of the books it would still have been essential for Sampson Low to send him every book so that he could see any developments in character or the introduction of new characters such as Bumpy Dog who was first used in a book illustrated by Robert Tyndall.

I do hope the auction goes well and please do let me know of any uncredited items that you find that were illustrated by Peter and I will willingly put them right.

[Kate Mary]

The books in the photograph do not look in very good condition.

Kate.

[Katharine]

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I was surprised to see them described as in excellent condition.

[simonb]

Althought some of the dust jackets are in bad condition and one or two of the 60 + books are damaged ,( and considering there age im not suprised.) However let me assure you that 80% of the collection are in excellent unread condition and have been very well looked after . There is no foxing or any damage whatsoever to be found in the majority of the books .

[simonb]

1500 pounds at auction