Fri 31 Aug 2007
Addenda to the Revised CRIME FICTION IV, Part 18.
Posted by Steve under Crime Fiction IV , Reference works / Biographies[5] Comments
As part of Al Hubin’s ongoing Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV, I uploaded Part 18 just a few minutes ago this morning. I’ve not had a chance to add any of my usual enhancements, links, covers and other annotations, but this latest installment is online and ready for you to take a look at now.
There are no major corrections, discoveries or revisions this time around. Just a steady stream of newly learned data: birth and death dates, settings, movies based on books, and so on.
This is what Al does. For an ongoing example of what I do, check out the main page, which consists of the data in Part 3. As of last night, I’ve worked my way down to:
WHITHAM, G(RACE) I(SABELLE?). 1874?- . Add tentative middle name & year of birth. Author of three titles included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, one marginal.
A few entries before her are the following:
WEBB, C. PACKHAM. Probably also wrote as T(homas) C(harles) Packham Webb, 1908-1973, q.v. Under this name, the author of one thriller novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
Special Assignment. Fiction House, UK, pb, 1947.
WEBB, T(HOMAS) C(HARLES) P(ACKHAM). 1908-1973. Add probable other byline: C. Packham Webb, q.v. Under his own name, the author of one thriller novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus one Sexton Blake novel ghostwritten under author George Paul Mann’s “Arthur Maclean” byline. Other pseudonym: Tony Angelo.
_The Man Who Killed Me. See Redhead for Danger.
Midnight Intruder. Hamilton, UK, pb, 1950.
Redhead for Danger [as by Arthur Maclean]. Amalgamated Press, UK, pb, 1958. SC: Sexton Blake. Revised by G. P. Mann and published as The Man Who Killed Me (Amalgamated Press, 1962).
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:00 am
I thought that “Arthur Maclean” was a house name for the Amalgamated writers.
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Juri
I’ll check with Al Hubin on this, but according to Crime Fiction IV, George P. Mann was the primary user of the name Arthur Maclean. One or two others may have used it, but always with the supervision of Mann, and subject to being revised by him. Or at least that’s how I understand it.
If I learn more otherwise, I’ll let you know.
— Steve
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Hi All,
Arthur Maclean was originally used as pen-name by Hamilton & Co. in 1954 for a guy called Derek Hyde-Chambers. Bill Baker (later editor of Sexton Blake Library) was editor at Panther at the time and George Mann was one of his regular writers under various names.
Not sure quite _why_ Mann decided to become Arthur Maclean, but almost certainly to do with being chased by creditors. But the majority of the Arthur Maclean stories published in the Sexton Blake Library were, indeed, by Mann, bar three titles which were all revised by Mann.
He’s not a bad writer, actually. I’ve quite liked the Blakes I’ve read.
Kindest regards,
Steve.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
[…] A fellow named Arthur Maclean was the chap who was asked to do the conversion, which was not a very easy job, as he describes. (“Maclean” was actually a writer named George Paul Mann, which is another tale altogether, one told in the comments in this earlier post. But I digress.) Changing the hero’s name was the least of it. Locales had to changed, Blake’s assistant Tinker had to be written in, and if Amalgamated thought they were saving either time or money, they were sadly mistaken, and they never tried such a short cut again. […]
August 18th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
George Paul Mann – Arthur Maclean – is actually my Dad. He’s still alive – if there’s anything you want to know from him, let me know and I’ll pass it on!