Just been looking for a book (Darling 'It Looks Good to Me') and I am
intrigued by one copy on offer described as a 'Later printing of this
memoir by the "Bankrupt Bookseller" hoaxster'.

So, who was the "Bankrupt Bookseller" hoaxster?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 01 Feb 2004 09:44 PST

Dear Bryan,

I don't offer a definitive answer, du to a lack of hard data. But here
are my conlcusions from the information I found:

The "Bankrupt Bookseller" hoaxster was actually author Will Darling
(full name: Sir William Young Darling) himself. His book "The Private
Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller" was originally published anonymously
in 1931, by the publishing House Jonathan Cape, London. The book was a
fictitious account of a bookseller and a bookseller's life. I found
excerpts from "The Private Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller" that
indicate that it may have been regarded an actual account by an actual
person by the time it was first published. I could imagine that this
was quite a hoax back then.

Later editions mentioned Darling, who also wrote a sequel "The
Bankrupt Bookseller speaks again", as the author.

In case you are interested in reading the excerpts from "The Private
Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller", you can find them here:
http://www.skoob.com/webzine/bankrupt.htm

Some of the sources I found:

Diary Research Website: Diaries for Sale - Catalog No. 32
http://diarysearch.com/catalogues/Catalogue32.htm

David Evens Books: Darling, Will - The Bankrupt Bookseller
http://www.davidevesbooks.com/si/011662.html

Book Source Magazine: Fluffy Bookshops: or Every Man his Own Bookseller
http://www.booksourcemonthly.com/index.htm?recent.shtml

Maybe this will help you or one of my colleagues finding more detailed information.
Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 01 Feb 2004 10:05 PST

Hi, Scriptor

Now, I am very confused!

I really believed that it was Sir William Darling's autobiography.

(It was mentioned as such in an autobiography of one of his contemporaries.)

Is it possible that there were two authors with similar names?

Many thanks

Bryan

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 01 Feb 2004 10:23 PST

I agree, this is confusing. All I can offer in addition is this:

- The British Library online catalog lists "So it looks to me" by Sir
William Young Darling (Odhams Press: London 1952; Shelfmark:
10863.b.34.) as his autobiography.

- The "Bankrupt Bookseller", however, is a ficticious work of
literature, though written in a way that suggests an actual account.
It, too, is credited to Sir William Young Darling (various editions
listed in the British Library catalog).

Though the existence of two different authors of the name "William
Young Darlings" is still possible, I can't imagine that both were
knighted so they were allowed to call themselves "Sir". So I'd say
that William Y. Darling simply was active on various fields of
literature.

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 01 Feb 2004 13:20 PST

Hi, Scriptor

OK ... Go for it!

If you say it's true, I believe you.

It looks as though you've saved me a bob or two ... 

By the way, did you know that, in 1951, the Exchange Rate was 12 DM = £1? 

Really!

Dear Bryan,

Thank you for your confidence in my abilities. Well, I can't attest on
oath that I am right, but to me the case looks quite logical: Darling
originally published his "The Private Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller"
anonymously, maybe with the intention to fool his readers and make
them believe it's an actual account of a real person. And it seems
that the public really thought so, until Sir William Y. Darling
revealed the truth. Thus the term "hoaxster".
His autobiography ""So it looks to me", however, seems not to be a
hoax like the "Bankrupt Bookseller". The bookseller offering it
obviously only tried to refer to one of the author's most memorable
works.

If you insist that I make an answer out of what I found, I will not
object. After all, who am I to disagree with a customer? ;-)

I guess that you already know the web address of the British Library's
online catalog, but to avoid confusion among other readers, I better
add it here:
http://blpc.bl.uk/

And concerning the Exchange Rates of 1952 ... you could buy a
Volkswagen Standard (main feature: Spartanic) for DM 2600 back then,
less than £217. But I can't calculate the exact '52 amount in Pound
Sterling - the British pre-decimal currency system will always remain
terra incognita to me...

Greetings,
Scriptor

Hi, Scriptor

Many thanks for throwing light on this issue.

I shall get a copy from the library rather than spend any of Daisy's
money on this madcap venture.

I shall also buy a Time Machine ... I see an opportunity to make some
serious money.

Warmest regards

Bryan

Some additional information concerning Darling:

http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/1.htm

http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/da.htm

Did you know William Young Darling was the great-uncle of Alastair,
Secretary of State for Transport? He was a prominent Edinburgh citizen
with a bookshop in a prime central location. After a term as Lord
Provost in the early 1940s, he went on to become a Tory MP. He told
the House of Commons,
"I am something of a publisher, and I am a bookseller. I have a couple
or three shops selling books."
http://www.spellingsociety.org/media/bill.pdf

He may have enjoyed publishing "hoaxes" as he wrote a sequel to the
"Bankrupt Bookseller" calling himself George P J Klaus.

Klaus, George P. J.
The Bankrupt Bookseller Speaks Again
Written from the original untidy pencilled papers which were not used
by Mr Evans in the original story "The Private Papers of a Bankrupt
Bookseller".
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=92137787

He also left room for confusion about who wrote the "True Story" of Peter Gogg.

Hi, Leli

No, I didn't know about the stuff that you've picked up.

Many thanks for sharing it with me!

Warmest regards

Bryan