Heron / Edito-Service Edition

‘HERON’ EDITION

(I am most grateful to Jonathan McColl of Dingwall, Ross-shire, who has shared the details of his own original collection and assisted me with the following information.
Thanks also to Gary Friggens for giving me first refusal for the above amulet which was a free gift with his subscription.)

In 1971 the following advert appeared in various Sunday newspapers for a unique illustrated edition of Dennis Wheatley's fictional works. Described as

"A collection of almost sinful luxury"

and with

"No Devil’s Agreement
to claim your free volume"

they were to be obtained through a monthly subscription of only £1.35 per volume with the first volume free!

(click here for a text-only version of this advert)

In 1974 Weekend magazine carried the following colour advert on their back page, by which time the price had gone up to £1.50 plus p&p:

The edition was published by Edito-Service S.A. of Geneva by arrangement with Hutchinson and distributed in the UK by Heron Books of London.

Edito-Service / Heron Books were responsible throughout the 60s, 70s and early 80s for publishing 'Collectors Editions' of famous authors, including Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, Aldous Huxley, Alistair MacLean, Wilbur Smith and many many others.

For details of other Heron Books, click here

In this Wheatley collection 52 of his titles were eventually published between 1972 and 1977. The missing titles are an odd assortment and seem to make no sense. These are
Gunmen, Gallants And Ghosts,
The Man Who Missed The War,
Sixty Days To Live and
Star Of Ill-Omen.

The books, designed by William B. Taylor with a frontispiece portrait of Dennis Wheatley by Mark Gerson, are all a uniform 205mm x 120mm, bound in red moroccan leather-looking plastic (sorry – 'richly grained scarlet Skivertex'!), and embossed in gilt and black on the front and spine. As a bonus for Wheatley fans, each title also contains illustrated scenes from the story by various artists.

18 titles were published in 1972, 14 in 1973, 14 in 1974, 3 in 1975, none in 1976, and 3 in 1977. As this collection was a monthly subscription one, the publishing dates obviously have no relevance to their release date. The actual release dates appear to be very haphazard: for some months, no deliveries, then a parcel with a number of titles equating to the missing months, then back to monthly for a time, then missing months, and so on.

As far as I can ascertain, the adverts and issues continued up to the early to mid 80s, after which the Heron company disappeared without trace!

With the exception of the 1977 titles, all titles for distribution in the UK were published by Heron Books, London and printed by Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. Those which were distributed outside the UK were published by Edito-Service S.A., Geneva and printed in various locations
(I have seen the following:
  printed in Switzerland;
  printed in France;
  printed in France, bound in Switzerland;
  printed in Italy, bound in Switzerland).
The 1977 titles were published by Leisure Arts Ltd, London and printed by Hazell Watson & Viney.

In addition to the hardbacks a series of softbacks was also issued, smaller in size and with a simpler design. I have no idea if all the titles were repeated in the softbacks, nor when or how they were issued.

With respect to the hardbacks, in the majority of titles, underneath the publishing details, there appears a reference number of either 4 numbers (for those printed in England) or a series of separated numbers/letters (for those printed outside England), or, rarely, nothing at all.

UK code example

non-UK code example

The English numbers give no clue as to their meaning, but it is the other set of characters that give the answer to the issue order. The code starts off with 13 043 and is followed by two numbers ranging from 01 to 49 (the issue number). This is followed by nothing or R and a single number ranging from 1 to 6 (e.g. 13 043 21 R2) (we speculate, without any evidence, that the R might refer to a Reprint no.or a Region code?). The final 3 issues in 1977 had only the 4 figure UK codes.

If there is anyone reading this that has a more accurate knowledge of this very attractive collection, then please contact me.

Any contributions for inclusion on this page would be gratefully received and acknowledged.

The following table shows all the 'Heron' titles in order of issue:
(For a list in alphabetical order of title, look at the 'Heron' edition section of the bibliography page)

Title	Publish Date	Edition Details	Publisher	Code
The Devil Rides Out	1972	Original illustrations by Ian Miller	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 01
The Launching Of Roger Brook	1972	Original illustrations by Richard Dalkins	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 02
The Satanist	1972	Original illustrations by Richard Dalkins	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 03
They Found Atlantis	1972	Original illustrations by Ian Miller	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 04
The Forbidden Territory	1972	Original illustrations by Tony Benyon	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 05
The Scarlet Impostor	1972	Original illustrations by Ian Miller	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 06
To The Devil—A Daughter	1972	Original illustrations by Michel De St.Ouen	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 07
The Prisoner In The Mask	1972	Original illustrations by Tony Benyon	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 08
The Shadow Of Tyburn Tree	1972	Original illustrations by John Holder	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 09
Faked Passports	1972	Original illustrations by John Holder	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 10
The Ka Of Gifford Hillary	1972	Original illustrations by Peter Whiteman	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 11
The Eunuch Of Stamboul	1972	Original illustrations by Steve Henderson	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 12
Strange Conflict	1972	Original illustrations by Jeffrey Morgan	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 13
The Quest Of Julian Day	1972	Original illustrations by Steve Henderson	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 14
The Black Baroness	1972	Original illustrations by Jeffrey Morgan	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 15
Uncharted Seas	1972	Original illustrations by John Roberts	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 16
The Rising Storm	1972	Original illustrations by Barry Wilkinson	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 17
The Man Who Killed The King	1972	Original illustrations by Malcolm Poynter	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 18
V For Vengeance	1972	Original illustrations by Steve Henderson	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 19
The Haunting Of Toby Jugg	1973	Original illustrations by David Hollinshead	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 20
The Fabulous Valley	1973	Original illustrations by Alan Saunders	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 21
The Second Seal	1973	Original illustrations by Anthony Matthews	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 22
Come Into My Parlour	1973	Original illustrations by P. Rixon	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 23
The Golden Spaniard	1973	Original illustrations by Peter Whiteman	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 24
Unholy Crusade	1973	Original illustrations by J. O'Gara	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 25
The Dark Secret Of Josephine	1973	Original illustrations by Steve Henderson	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 26
Traitors' Gate	1973	Original illustrations by Rosemary Honeybourne	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 27
The Sword Of Fate	1973	Original illustrations by Peter Whiteman	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 28
Mayhem In Greece	1973	Original illustrations by Hugh Marshall	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 29
Three Inquisitive People	1973	Original illustrations by Shirley Bellwood	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 30
Mediterranean Nights	1973	Original illustrations by Ellen Gilbert (compilation as 1963 Arrow edition)	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 31
They Used Dark Forces	1973	Original illustrations by Hugh Marshall	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 32
The Rape Of Venice	1974	Original illustrations by Patrick Rixon	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 33
Contraband	1974	Original illustrations by Peter Whiteman	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 34
Vendetta In Spain	1974	Original illustrations by Tony Matthews	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 35
The Sultan's Daughter	1974	Original illustrations by Jenny Thorne	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 36
Codeword – Golden Fleece	1974	Original illustrations by Kathy Barton	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 37
The Wanton Princess	1974	Original illustrations by Roy Spencer	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 38
The White Witch Of The South Seas	1974	Original illustrations by Stephen Bennett	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 39
Bill For The Use Of A Body	1974	Original illustrations by Gary Rees	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 40
Evil In A Mask	1974	Original illustrations by Jim Russell	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 41
The Island Where Time Stands Still	1974	Original illustrations by Bill Jarvis	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 42
Gateway To Hell	1974	Original illustrations by Virginia Smith	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 43
Curtain Of Fear	1974	Original illustrations by Janet Archer	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 44
The Ravishing Of Lady Mary Ware	1974	Original illustrations by Anne Knight	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 45
Black August	1974	Original illustrations by David Hollinshead	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 46
Dangerous Inheritance	1975	Original illustrations by Gordon King	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 47
The Irish Witch	1975	Original illustrations by Patricia Ludlow	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 48
Desperate Measures	1975	Original illustrations by Tony Morris	Edito-Service S.A., Geneva	13 043 49
The Secret War	1977	Original illustrations by Tony Morris	Leisure Arts Ltd, London	3121
Such Power Is Dangerous	1977	Original illustrations by David Whitfield	Leisure Arts Ltd, London	3171
The Strange Story Of Linda Lee	1977	Original illustrations by David Whitfield	Leisure Arts Ltd, London	3081

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