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Professor Branestawm's Treasure
Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt and Other Incredible
195 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Norman Hunter
65 books12 followersCareer
Hunter wrote popular books on writing for advertising, brain-teasers and conjuring among many others. His career started as an advertising copywriter and in the 1930s he was performing as a stage magician in Bournemouth.
It was at this time he started to write the Professor Branestawm series, originally intended for radio. The books were published in hardback, with the first illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. Other illustrators were to follow, including James Arnold, George Worsley Adamson, Gerald Rose, David Hughes, Jill McDonald and Derek Cousins. In the 1960s the books were reprinted in Puffin Books, the Penguin children's imprint.
Hunter returned to London during the Second World War, living on a boat on the Thames. Post-war, in 1949 he went to work in South Africa and the fiction writing ceased. On his retirement in 1970, he once again returned to London, where Thames Television had just produced the Professor Branestawm eight-part TV series. He continued writing in his retirement, with his last book published in 1983.
Works (Incomplete)
Simplified Conjuring for All: a collection of new tricks needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1923)
Advertising Through the Press: a guide to press publicity, Sir I. Pitman & Sons (1925)
New and Easy Magic : a further series of novel magical experiments needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1925)
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm, John Lane (1933)
New conjuring Without Skill, Bodley Head (1935)
Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt, John Lane (1937)
Larky Legends (1938), republished as The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
Successful Conjuring for Amateurs, Pearson (c.1951)
The Puffin Book of Magic (1968), republished as Norman Hunter’s Book of Magic, Bodley Head (1974)
The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm, Bodley Head (1970)
The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1971)
Professor Branestawm Up the Pole, Bodley Head (1972)
Professor Branestawm's Dictionary, Bodley Head (1973)
The Frantic Phantom and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
Professor Branestawm's Great Revolution, Bodley Head (1974)
The Home-made Dragon and Other Incredible Stories (1974)
Dust up at the Royal Disco: and Other Stories (1975)
Professor Branestawm’s Do-It-Yourself Handbook, Bodley Head (1974)
Long Live Their Majesties (1975)
Professor Branestawm Round the Bend, Bodley Head (1977)
Professor Branestawm’s Compendium of Donundrums, Riddles, Puzzles, Brain Twiddlers and Dotty Descriptions, Bodley Head (1975)
Vanishing Ladies, and Other Magic, Bodley Head (1978)
Professor Branestawm's Perilous Pudding, Bodley Head (1979)
The Best of Branestawm, Bodley Head (1980)
Sneeze and Be Slain and Other Incredible Stories (1980)
Professor Branestawm and the Wild Letters, Bodley Head (1981)
Professor Branestawm's Pocket Motor Car, Bodley Head (1981)
Professor Branestawm's Mouse War, Bodley Head (1982)
Professor Branestawm's Building Bust-Up, Bodley Head (1982)
Count Bakwerdz on the Carpet and Other Incredible Stories (1982)
Professor Branestawm's Crunchy Crockery, Bodley Head (1983)
Professor Branestawm's Hair-Raising Idea, Bodley Head (1983)
Wikipedia
Hunter wrote popular books on writing for advertising, brain-teasers and conjuring among many others. His career started as an advertising copywriter and in the 1930s he was performing as a stage magician in Bournemouth.
It was at this time he started to write the Professor Branestawm series, originally intended for radio. The books were published in hardback, with the first illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. Other illustrators were to follow, including James Arnold, George Worsley Adamson, Gerald Rose, David Hughes, Jill McDonald and Derek Cousins. In the 1960s the books were reprinted in Puffin Books, the Penguin children's imprint.
Hunter returned to London during the Second World War, living on a boat on the Thames. Post-war, in 1949 he went to work in South Africa and the fiction writing ceased. On his retirement in 1970, he once again returned to London, where Thames Television had just produced the Professor Branestawm eight-part TV series. He continued writing in his retirement, with his last book published in 1983.
Works (Incomplete)
Simplified Conjuring for All: a collection of new tricks needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1923)
Advertising Through the Press: a guide to press publicity, Sir I. Pitman & Sons (1925)
New and Easy Magic : a further series of novel magical experiments needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1925)
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm, John Lane (1933)
New conjuring Without Skill, Bodley Head (1935)
Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt, John Lane (1937)
Larky Legends (1938), republished as The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
Successful Conjuring for Amateurs, Pearson (c.1951)
The Puffin Book of Magic (1968), republished as Norman Hunter’s Book of Magic, Bodley Head (1974)
The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm, Bodley Head (1970)
The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1971)
Professor Branestawm Up the Pole, Bodley Head (1972)
Professor Branestawm's Dictionary, Bodley Head (1973)
The Frantic Phantom and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
Professor Branestawm's Great Revolution, Bodley Head (1974)
The Home-made Dragon and Other Incredible Stories (1974)
Dust up at the Royal Disco: and Other Stories (1975)
Professor Branestawm’s Do-It-Yourself Handbook, Bodley Head (1974)
Long Live Their Majesties (1975)
Professor Branestawm Round the Bend, Bodley Head (1977)
Professor Branestawm’s Compendium of Donundrums, Riddles, Puzzles, Brain Twiddlers and Dotty Descriptions, Bodley Head (1975)
Vanishing Ladies, and Other Magic, Bodley Head (1978)
Professor Branestawm's Perilous Pudding, Bodley Head (1979)
The Best of Branestawm, Bodley Head (1980)
Sneeze and Be Slain and Other Incredible Stories (1980)
Professor Branestawm and the Wild Letters, Bodley Head (1981)
Professor Branestawm's Pocket Motor Car, Bodley Head (1981)
Professor Branestawm's Mouse War, Bodley Head (1982)
Professor Branestawm's Building Bust-Up, Bodley Head (1982)
Count Bakwerdz on the Carpet and Other Incredible Stories (1982)
Professor Branestawm's Crunchy Crockery, Bodley Head (1983)
Professor Branestawm's Hair-Raising Idea, Bodley Head (1983)
Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2021
I won't beat around the bush here, one of the stories in this collection is totally unacceptable to modern sensibilities. Be warned!
The rest are a mixed bag, perhaps skewed more toward the negative than the other branestawm collections that I've read.
The rest are a mixed bag, perhaps skewed more toward the negative than the other branestawm collections that I've read.
September 26, 2008
This book is for 9 to 12 year olds(I am 11).Its a book that's easy to read ,very funny but the things that the professor invents are a bit dated like a automatic and wireless fire alarm .The stories are not one but many.Perfect for reading on long
journeys because it puts a smile on your face.
journeys because it puts a smile on your face.
January 22, 2026
Pow! Bing! Crash!
June 21, 2012
Fourteen rip-roaringly funny stories, with the Professor inventing radio fire-alarms, taking part in a motor-race, developing an expanding house and exploring the Diddituptite Islands. All tremendously funny, outrageous language and a sense of the absurd. There are dated references here and there (1930's big band leader Henry Hall getting a name-check, for example), and the first story has a couple of un-PC references which I had to edit out in the telling. But minor quibbles aside, it kept the little ones happy and they have wanted more. The best penny (plus p&p!) spent this year!
May 25, 2016
The fingerprints of this book are all over my mind. Seriously, if I hadn't read this and the other Branestawm book, I'd be a very different person.
May 6, 2016
Another series of madcap adventures as the Professor's inventions don't quite work out as he planned. I especially liked the cricket match and the thought of the 'balls' fighting back :)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews