Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on September 19, 2011 at 13:34:59 user ACB.
I am falling into the bad habit of book collecting. I have just snaffled a copy of the August 1932 reprint of the first edition; this early edition contains an explanation "FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ "SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS" - this might usefully have been retained in later editions I think - and the Clifford Webb pictures.
What I had not appreciated until I had the book in my hands was that Webb did a full set of the chapter heading pictures and AR also replaced all these.
Webb's drawings are certainly competent but I find them uninspiring, espescially as regards my favourite chapter in all the twelve - "The Able Seaman and the Boy Explore". There is one exception and that is the drawing of Mary Swainson at page 193 which is a gem. In some cases, such as "The Hidden Boat" at page 290, "Night on the Mountain" at page 319, Ransome seems to have followed Webb quite closely.