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Motoraces Book Club


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#1 LittleChris

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Posted 24 June 2005 - 22:46

Over the last couple of years I've come into possession of a few books published by the Motorraces Book Club via a friend of my mum and was wondering if anyone has a full list of their publications ?

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#2 Vitesse2

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Posted 25 June 2005 - 10:55

Not sure if a full list exists anywhere accessible. I think they did about six titles a year, but it only lasted from 1963 until (I think) 1967. I believe that's when Readers' Union was sold to David & Charles and they promptly closed MBC down. Any full list could be in whatever the last title was (possibly Thirlby's "Chain Drive Frazer Nash"?)

From the ones I own, plus a bit of digging on Chaters' website:

MONTLHÉRY (Boddy)
ROLLS OF ROLLS ROYCE (Montagu)
FULL THROTTLE (Birkin)
CHAIN DRIVE FRAZER NASH (Thirlby)
PORSCHE THE MAN & HIS CARS (Frankenberg)
OTHER BENTLEY BOYS (Nagle)
UNDER MY BONNET (Minchin)
GORDON BENNETT RACES (Montagu)
RACING COOPERS (Owen)
COMPETITIVE DRIVING (Roberts)
FROM THE COCKPIT (McLaren)
SEVEN YEAR TWITCH (Chambers)
TOUCH WOOD! (Hamilton)
DESTINATION MONTE (Harper)
COMPETITION DRIVING (Frere)
FAMOUS MOTOR RACES (Walkerley)
RACING DRIVER'S WORLD (Caracciola)
PRIVATE ENTRANT (Cooper-Evans)

Can anyone take this further?

#3 Mark Ballard

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Posted 25 June 2005 - 11:45

They also printed
Ecurie Ecosse by David Murray
Speed by John Surtees
The World's Land Speed Record by William Boddy

That's as far as I know...

#4 petefenelon

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Posted 25 June 2005 - 13:27

I also have:

"Alf Francis: Racing Mechanic" by Peter Lewis (no. 15)
"The Mad Motorists" by Allen Andrews (no. 17) (the 1907 Peking-Paris)

#5 KJJ

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Posted 25 June 2005 - 15:41

Behind the Scenes of Motor Racing ( K Gregory)
Wheels of Fortune (Redman)
Bees Under My Bonnet (Collier)
Amateur Racing Driver (Cholmondeley-Tapper)
My Life on Wheels (Wiggin)
Best Wheel Forward (Gregoire)
Challenge Me the Race (Hawthorn)
Jaguar, A Biography (Montagu)
My Terrible Joys (Ferrari)
Rolls of Rolls Royce (Montagu)

#6 goodwood56

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 01:45

I am collecting books published by the Motoraces Book Club. I have most of them at this time but am looking for background info on the club, the total number of books that were included in the offering, etc. Can anyone help with this info. I have identified 34 books in the series. Are there more?

#7 KJJ

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 05:49

There's a thread here called Motorraces Book Club ( try Search BB) which lists 33 titles, so you've come up with at least one book not listed there, wonder what it is?

#8 Twin Window

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 11:51

Originally posted by KJJ

There's a thread here called Motorraces Book Club...

Merged - thanks!

#9 Vitesse2

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 20:02

As I posted above, MBC was part of the Readers Union group of book clubs. At that time, Readers Union was owned by JM Dent & Sons, who operated from the address which can be found in MBC's books - Aldine House, 10-13 Bedford St, London WC2: the group was later sold to David & Charles of Newton Abbot. They published a new title every two months, alternating with the Sportsman's Book Club, which published football and cricket titles.

The above is from memory, but you might find a few more details in either:

"Publishing and Bookselling" by Frank Mumby and Ian Norrie (5th ed, Jonathan Cape 1974)

or

"Publishing and Bookselling in the Twentieth Century" by Ian Norrie (Bell & Hyman 1982)

#10 David Beard

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 22:29

Originally posted by Vitesse2
As I posted above, MBC was part of the Readers Union group of book clubs. At that time, Readers Union was owned by JM Dent & Sons,


Operating from a building with but two windows? :)

#11 Twin Window

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 23:06

Not from my clan, I'm afraid!

#12 goodwood56

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 23:09

Thankyou for all of that. Checking over my list I find three unlisted titles.

16 on the Grid by Peter Garnier
First and Fastest by Richard Hough
Automobile Racing by Rodney Walkerley


That makes 34 as some of the previous listings are duplicated. The last one by Walkerley I have not been able to verify as it was listed by one bookshop briefly and may have been misslisted. They are numbered from 1 thru 26 but the remaining ones are not numbered that I can tell.
I will try the sources you all have provided. Thanks again. The series seems to have been a nice offering for a reasonable price and gave one the opportunity to connect with the early and sometimes current drivers, mechanics and bigwigs of the sports car and F1 racing scene in the first half of the 20th century. Though they are a little dated now, and the pictures are not as colorful and stunning as today's picturebooks might be, they do give a feeling of closeness to the subject which will probably never be available at a reasonable price again thanks to marketing and agents and the money involved these days.
goodwood56

#13 Roger Clark

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Posted 27 December 2005 - 23:23

Originally posted by goodwood56
Thankyou for all of that. Checking over my list I find three unlisted titles.

16 on the Grid by Peter Garnier
First and Fastest by Richard Hough
Automobile Racing by Rodney Walkerley

Are you sure that those were in the MBC series? I would be very surprised.

#14 helioseism

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 00:55

I agree with Roger. My book database does not have those three titles as ever being published by the Motoraces Book Club. Moreover, it does not have "Bees Under My Bonnet" as part of the series either. Here's what it does have:
Title Author No. Date Pages Width Height Value
1. Alf Francis - Racing Mechanic (Lewis) 15 1963 336 5.75 8.75 75.00
Amateur Racing Driver (The) Cholmondeley Tapper, T. P. 2 1966 172 5.5 8.75 15 40.00
Behind The Scenes Of Motor Racing Gregory, Ken 3 1963 296 5.25 8 19 30.00
Best Wheel Forward Gregoire, J. A. 4 1966 194 5.75 8.75 30.00
Chain-Drive Frazer-Nash (The) Thirlby, David A. 5 1967 238 6 8.5 80.00
Challenge Me The Race Hawthorn, Mike 6 1964 240 5.75 8.75 34 30.00
Competition Driving Frère, Paul 7 1966 144 5.75 8.75 60 20.00
Competitive Driving Roberts, Peter 8 1964/7 142 5.25 8 20.00
Destination Monte Harper, Peter 9 1967 160 5.13 8.13 40.00
Ecurie Ecosse Murray, David 10 1964 186 5.25 8.25 60.00
Enzo Ferrari Memoirs (The)-My Terrible Joys Ferrari, Enzo 11 1965 164 5.5 8.5 80.00
Famous Motor Races Walkerley, Rodney Lewis 12 1965 192 5.75 8.75 20.00
First And Fastest Hough, Richard 13 1963 152 20.00
From The Cockpit McLaren, Bruce 14 1965 278 5 8 60.00
Full Throttle Birkin, Sir Henry Tim 15 03 1964 134 6 9 30.00
Gordon Bennett Races (The) Montagu, Lord 16 09 1965 252 5.75 8.75 70.00
Jaguar - A Biography Montagu, Lord 17 1965 274 5.5 9 50.00
Mad Motorists (The) Andrews, Allen 18 17 1966 256 5 8 30.00
Montlhery Boddy, William 19 70.00
My Life On Wheels Wiggin, Maurice 20 1964 142 5.5 8.5 30.00
Other Bentley Boys (The) Nagle, Elizabeth 21 1967 224 6 9 60.00
Porsche - The Man And His Cars von Frankenberg, Richard 22 1965 224 5.75 8.75 40.00
Private Entrant - Racing With Rob Walker Cooper-Evans, Michael 23 1966 194 5.25 8 55.00
Racing Coopers (The) Owen, Arthur 24 04 1964 244 5.25 8 50.00
Racing Driver's World (A) Caracciola, Rudolph 25 1963 232 5.25 8 30.00
Rolls Of Rolls-Royce Montagu, Lord 26 1967 250 6 9 40.00
Seven Year Twitch Chambers, Marcus 27 1965 226 5.75 8.75 20.00
Speed - John Surtees' Own Story Surtees, John 28 1964 168 5 7.5 40.00
Touch Wood! Hamilton, Duncan 29 1964 228 5.75 8.75 70.00
Under My Bonnet Minchin, G. R. N. 30 1967 184 5 8.25 45.00
Wheels Of Fortune Redman, Jim 31 1967 124 5 8 55.00
World's Land Speed Record (The) Boddy, William 32 1965 100 4.5 7 26 50.00

#15 helioseism

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 00:59

Sorry about that mess -- I'm trying to figure out how best to upload info from the database in a sensible fashion. That was not the way! :blush:

#16 helioseism

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 02:21

Another attempt at presenting the data:

Title/Author/Series No./Date/Pages/Width (in)/Height(in)/No. Illus/Value (US)
1. Alf Francis - Racing Mechanic/Lewis/15/1963/336/5.75/8.75/?/75.00
2. Amateur Racing Driver (The)/Cholmondeley Tapper/?/1966/172/5.5/8.75/15/40.00
3. Behind The Scenes Of Motor Racing/Gregory/?/1963/296/5.25/8/19/30.00
4. Best Wheel Forward/Gregoire/?/1966/194/5.75/8.75/?/30.00
5. Chain-Drive Frazer-Nash (The)/Thirlby/?/1967/238/6/8.5/?/80.00
6. Challenge Me The Race/Hawthorn/?/1964/240/5.75/8.75/34/30.00
7. Competition Driving/Frère/?/1966/144/5.75/8.75/60/20.00
8. Competitive Driving/Roberts/?/1964,1967/142/5.25/8/?/20.00
9. Destination Monte/Harper/?/1967/160/5.13/8.13/?/40.00
10. Ecurie Ecosse/Murray/?/1964/186/5.25/8.25/?/60.00
11. Enzo Ferrari Memoirs (The) - My Terrible Joys/Ferrari/?/1965/164/5.5/8.5/?/80.00
12. Famous Motor Races/Walkerley/?/1965/192/5.75/8.75/?/20.00
13. First And Fastest/Hough/?/1963/152/?/?/?/20.00
14. From The Cockpit/McLaren/?/1965/278/5/8/?/60.00
15. Full Throttle/Birkin/03/1964/134/6/9/?/30.00
16. Gordon Bennett Races (The)/Montagu/09/1965/252/5.75/8.75/?/70.00
17. Jaguar - A Biography/Montagu/?/1965/274/5.5/9/?/50.00
18. Mad Motorists (The)/Andrews/17/1966/256/5/8/?/30.00
19. Montlhery/Boddy/?/?/?/?/?/?/70.00
20. My Life On Wheels/Wiggin/?/1964/142/5.5/8.5/?/30.00
21. Other Bentley Boys (The)/Nagle/?/1967/224/6/9/?/60.00
22. Porsche - The Man And His Cars/von Frankenberg/?/1965/224/5.75/8.75/?/40.00
23. Private Entrant - Racing With Rob Walker/Cooper-Evans/?/1966/194/5.25/8/?/55.00
24. Racing Coopers (The)/Owen/04/1964/244/5.25/8/?/50.00
25. Racing Driver's World (A)/Caracciola/?/1963/232/5.25/8/?/30.00
26. Rolls Of Rolls-Royce/Montagu/?/1967/250/6/9/?/40.00
27. Seven Year Twitch/Chambers/?/1965/226/5.75/8.75/?/20.00
28. Speed - John Surtees' Own Story/Surtees/?/1964/168/5/7.5/?/40.00
29. Touch Wood!/Hamilton/?/1964/228/5.75/8.75/?/70.00
30. Under My Bonnet/Minchin/?/1967/184/5/8.25/?/45.00
31. Wheels Of Fortune/Redman/?/1967/124/5/8/?/55.00
32. World's Land Speed Record (The)/Boddy/?/1965/100/4.5/7/26/50.00

And here's thumbnail images of some covers:
Posted Image

#17 D-Type

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 16:14

Most appear to be reprints. Is that the case for all of them?

#18 helioseism

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 19:35

Most appear to be reprints. Is that the case for all of them?


Yes, I believe so.

#19 Vitesse2

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Posted 28 December 2005 - 22:15

Originally posted by D-Type
Most appear to be reprints. Is that the case for all of them?

The rules for book clubs in those days were different. Book club editions had to be in a different format to the original edition and there was no simultaneous or near-simultaneous publication. Again from memory, I think the book clubs had to wait a year (it might have even been two) before they could publish. It was only towards the end of the 60s when this began to change as publishers discovered cheaper printing in Eastern Europe, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. They began to use more colour and arranged co-editions with foreign publishers to keep the price down even further. Later still, the book clubs latched onto this and this led first to them publishing after six months and eventually simultaneously - even so, their edition still had to bear their own imprint. Book clubs have been seriously effected by the end of the Net Book Agreement, but still cling on: very often their books are indistinguishable.

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#20 goodwood56

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Posted 01 January 2006 - 03:37

Have checked the earlier list against mine. I will list what I show in the order of the book numbersw as I have most of them in hand.
1 Racing Drivers Worl
2 Behind the scenes
3 Full Throttle
4 The racing coopers
5 Touchwood
6 Ecurie Ecosse
7 Speed
8 Challenge me the race
9 The Gordon Bennett races
10 Famous motor races
11 Enzo Ferrari Memoirs
12 Porsche
13 Seven Year Twitch
14 From the Cockpit
15 Alf Francis
16 Amateur Racing Driver
17 The Mad Motorists
18 Competition Driving
19 Best Wheel Forward
20 Private Entrant
21 The Other Bentley Boys
22 Under my Bonnet ( no bees in the title)
23 Destination Monte
24 Wheels of Fortune
25 Competitive Driving
26 The Chain Drive Frazier-Nash
*******The remaining books are not numbered as far as I can find*******
16 on the Grid by Garnier ***
Automobile Racing by Walkerley ***
First and Fastest by Hough ***
Jaguar by Lord Montagu MBC
Montlhery by Boddy MBC
My life on wheels by Wiggins MBC
Rolls of Rolls-Royce by Lord Montagu MBC
The Worlds Land Speed Record by Boddy MBC
**************************************************************
I am sure of all but 3. I have a copy of First and Fastest but it is not published by MBC and has no crediting information to them. 16 on the grid I do not have but have seen this book listed and attributed to MBC in at least two places(normally a good sign). Automobile Racing by Walkerley I do not have and has been listed once as an MBC.

#21 Vitesse2

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Posted 01 January 2006 - 21:10

On the rear flap of my copy of Racing Driver's World is an order form for prospective new members. Two titles are listed as introductory choices: Montlhéry and Rallying to Monte Carlo. The latter seems to have been published in 1957 by Sportsman's Book Club, while I can't see a credible reference to an MBC edition of Montlhéry.

I wonder if at some point, the club did a deal to buy up remainders to offer as introductory choices. This would perhaps explain some of the the un-numbered ones.

Peter Bowen is currently listing an MBC edition of First and Fastest, more usually encountered from Allen & Unwin or Harper & Row.

World's Land Speed Record is listed as published as a co-edition between Phoenix House and MBC: Phoenix House was an imprint of JM Dent (see above)

#22 goodwood56

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Posted 01 January 2006 - 21:51

All of the books that I have show an MBC publisher and another publisher. Sometimes it appears to be the original publishing company and sometimes it is another company altogether. I believe that the MBC credit was for the organizational end of the reprinting and ther actual printer was then credited for the printing ewnd of the publishing. Frequently it was Foulis or Cassells, but there are others. I think that the Monte Carlo book mentioned on the flap is in fact Destination Monte by P. Harper which is in fact an MBC book for sure. The Montlhery book is listed currently by T.E. Warth as an MBC book. As they want $100. for it, I am not ready to buy just to find out.

#23 Vitesse2

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Posted 01 January 2006 - 22:59

Originally posted by goodwood56
All of the books that I have show an MBC publisher and another publisher. Sometimes it appears to be the original publishing company and sometimes it is another company altogether. I believe that the MBC credit was for the organizational end of the reprinting and ther actual printer was then credited for the printing ewnd of the publishing. Frequently it was Foulis or Cassells, but there are others. I think that the Monte Carlo book mentioned on the flap is in fact Destination Monte by P. Harper which is in fact an MBC book for sure. The Montlhery book is listed currently by T.E. Warth as an MBC book. As they want $100. for it, I am not ready to buy just to find out.

No, that's not the way it worked: the book club edition had to be different and was essentially sub-licenced by the original publisher. The printer is immaterial. See above.

Foulis and Cassell were two of only a few British publishers with a motoring list at that time, so it's natural that they feature heavily.

Destination Monte? Unlikely, given that it wasn't published until 1967 by MBC and Racing Driver's World is from 1963. Rallying to Monte Carlo by Mike Couper was first published by Ian Allan in 1956 and Sportsman's Book Club in 1957.

I wonder if some of these alleged MBC editions were perhaps just stickered over with the club's details - either remainders or authorised sales, subject to conditions. Publishers were very keen to police their traditional markets and would stamp on illegal imports (as I know from personal experience of importing cheap US paperbacks in the 1970s!) Sometimes UK publishers would even buy US stocks if it wasn't economic to reprint (and vice versa) - I have a US edition of My Father Mr Mercedes - clearly marked "Not for sale in the United States or Canada", which has been obliterated by hand!

It would be interesting to enquire with Warths to see if my theory is correct .....

#24 goodwood56

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Posted 02 January 2006 - 05:38

I see what you mean about Destination Monte being a later book. Rallying to Monte Carlo, however is shown on a regular basis as published by Sportsmans Book club. This would perhaps tie in with the connection between Sportsmans and MBC that you mentioned in a previous thread. If the two were symbiotic, then perhaps Sportmans had an abundance of Rallying to Monte Carlo books for some reason and had worked a deal with MBC to hand them out as premiums, and perhaps Sportsmans Book Club listed some MBC books as available as premiums of some kind? As for the Montlhery book, I have looked thru a number of listings and only Warth shows it as MBC. I have asked them to verify this and will relate their response. There are however a number of these listed as Montagu Motor Books. Is it possible the same situation existed here?

Also, the club offered a MBC car badge as a premium as well as prints of various cars by George Oliver. I have located a Bugatti print by Oliver that I believe was from this group. Does anyone have any leads on the car badge?

#25 Vitesse2

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Posted 02 January 2006 - 16:09

Montagu Motor Books was an occasional series published by Cassell between about 1960 and 1975, consisting mainly (but not exclusively) of books by His Lordship, sometimes with a co-author credited. In addition to Montlhéry by Boddy I know of the following:

Steam Cars 1770-1970
Gordon Bennett Races
The Motoring Montagus
Lost Causes of Motoring
Rolls of Rolls-Royce
Lost Causes of Motoring - Europe Vols 1 & 2
Jaguar: a Biography

Of course, when I say "by" Lord Montagu, it's more a question of the books having his name on the cover ....;)

#26 goodwood56

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Posted 02 January 2006 - 21:32

Have just recieved a reply from Warth which says that their copy of the Montlhery book is a Cassells.(even though their ABEbooks listing says Cassells/MBC for publisher) For some reason they list multiple publishers even though they do not have a book by multiple publishers. I am not sure why they do this, but if you are buying from them and require a specific publisher or version of a book, you had better inquire of the specifics in advance as their listing is no guarantee that you will get what they describe.

So given that cassells and Montagu Motor Books were connected and I know that Cassells was one of the publishing houses that connected with MBC, perhaps this is another case of one hand washing the other. Maybe Montagu Motor Books had an excess of the Montlhery book and this was a way to have a crossover of the memberships by offering it as a premium to MBC members. Perhaps there was cooperatrion between MBC, Montgu, and Sportsmans Book clubs to increase the overall audience for all of their books and thereby get more bang for the buck in the book club business of the 60's. It would be interesting to find out the full story on that. Thanks for the info.

#27 Vitesse2

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Posted 03 January 2006 - 13:51

My guess would be that MBC bought the remainder of the print run to offer as a premium. At about this time Cassell were sold to the American publisher Collier Macmillan, whose bean counters took a scythe to Cassell's backlist titles, so this may have been one of the "casualties".

As to Warth's, I think they just cut/paste from their catalogue listings, which usually don't discriminate on price between different publishers' editions.

#28 David Force

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Posted 10 January 2006 - 10:56

The details of Motoraces Book Club publications are very interesting as I had thought I had a full set purchased each month or so from my pocket money as a schoolboy but now I will have to search through the boxes again ! And I was hoping to sell them too !
I do have an original invoice for the April 1967 choice 'Under my bonnet' no bees as correctly pointed out. It was nine shillings.
The invoice was from Motoraces Book Club, Dunhams Lane, Letchworth Garden City, Herts.

#29 Vitesse2

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Posted 10 January 2006 - 14:29

Originally posted by David Force

The invoice was from Motoraces Book Club, Dunhams Lane, Letchworth Garden City, Herts.

That was the address of JM Dent's warehouse. :)

#30 goodwood56

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Posted 05 February 2006 - 18:48

Originally posted by David Force
The details of Motoraces Book Club publications are very interesting as I had thought I had a full set purchased each month or so from my pocket money as a schoolboy but now I will have to search through the boxes again ! And I was hoping to sell them too !
I do have an original invoice for the April 1967 choice 'Under my bonnet' no bees as correctly pointed out. It was nine shillings.
The invoice was from Motoraces Book Club, Dunhams Lane, Letchworth Garden City, Herts.

(when I have some extra money I buy books, and if there is any left, I buy food and clothing. Desiderius)

Imight be interested in purchasing some or all if you would contact me regarding your set.