Peter Cheyney and Collins White Circles From Ceylon

Back in August 2009, in my third post on this blog, I talked about the Wm. Collins Sons & Co. White Circle imprint published in India in the 1940s and 50s. I noted the four books I owned and asked how many Indian White Circle editions are there? Recently a correspondent provided me with a list of 150 of them! He also gave me a list of 20 White Circles from Ceylon. I have never seen or heard of these. I don't have any Ceylon White Circles to show but there are 12 titles  published as White Circles in Ceylon and Canada.

The most popular author among the Ceylon White Circles was Peter Cheyney with 5 titles. Cheyney, with 24 titles, was the second most popular Canadian WC author. Here are three of the titles seen in both countries. All were first published from 1940 to 1944 by the British parent company Wm. Collins & Sons.

Cheyney (1896-1951), if the number of paperback editions of his books is a guide, has to be among the most popular authors of the twentieth century. An entertaining website says that 5 million of his books were selling per year at the post war peak.

White Circle 211 - 1944

White Circle 211 back

White Circle 216 - 1945

White Circle 216 back

White Circle 277 - 1946

White Circle 277 back