by Alex Graham
by
Alex Graham
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Fred
Basset has been "running" non-stop since he first appeared in London's
Daily Mail on 8th July 1963, even though his creator, Alex Graham, died
in 1991. Graham, who owned a basset hound named Freida, published 8,757
Freds before he died. In addition, he left behind an 18-month supply
of his comic strip. When that expired, the Daily Mail and other newspapers
around the world began publishing original strips, drawn by an artist
appointed and supervised by the Graham family. The new strips were continued
in Graham's style with artwork by Michael Martin and Graham's daughter,
Arran Keith, continuing the family link.
Not all of Alex Graham's strips have been published in book form. Alex numbered all his Fred Basset comic strips which is evident in the books. Though all the books have small gaps, there is a notable gap between books 41 and 42 where the strip numbers ended with 6483 in book 41 and started at 8159 in book 42, which means strips published between 1984 and 1989 have not seen book publication, which is a shame. I am unsure when the first book was published (though it is widely thought to be 1963) and the next 30 books issued are also undated (no copyright dates at all). Nos 32 and 33 are both copyrighted as 1981. Book 12 was dual priced at 3/- and 15 new pence which puts that copy around 1969 when decimal currency was introduced in the UK. This means, that like other comic strip books of the time, more than one book per year must have been published. From No 34 onwards there was one book per year, but numbering was dropped for the 1994 issue onwards. Fred Basset books are still being published today. There were some additional books issued during the run, one in 1988 titled "Fred Basset 25 Years", and another issued in 1989 titled "Fred Basset Bumper Book 2" (the 'Bumper Book 1' being the '25 years' one). Below is a Gallery of UK Fred Basset Books in publication order.  =
In My Collection / 
= Not in My Collection
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No
1
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No
2
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No
3
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No
4
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No
5
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No
6
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No
7
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No
8
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|
No
9
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No
10
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No
11
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No
12
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|
No
13
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No
14
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No
15
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No
16
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|
No
17
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No
18
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No
19
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No
20
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|
No
21
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No
22
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No
23
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No
24
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|
No
25
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No
26
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No
27
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No
28
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|
No
29
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No
30
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No
31
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No
32 (1981)
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No
33 (1981)
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No
34 (1982)
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No
35 (1983)
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No
36 (1984)
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No
37 (1985)
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No
38 (1986)
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No
39 (1987)
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No
40 (1988)
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25
Years (1988)
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No
41 (1989)
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Bumper
Book 2 (1989)
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No
42 (1990)
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No
43 (1991)
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No
44 (1992)
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No
45 (1993)
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1994
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|
1995
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1996
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1997
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1998
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1999
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2000
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2001
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2002
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|
2003
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2004
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2005
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2006
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|
2007
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2008
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2009
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2010-2011
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2012
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2013
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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In 1977 Associated Newspapers published this hardback children's book (story book, no comic strips) by Neilson Graham (Alex's son).
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1977
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2005
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In 2009 Summersdale Books published these two hardback books.
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2009
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2009
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2013
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2016
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US
As far as I know, only one book of Fred Basset was produced in the US by Fawcett
in 1969.
Whether this was intended as a pilot which failed or there were in fact later
books is
unknown to me. If anyone has further information and/or images, please email
me.
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1969
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Australia
Fred
Basset Books in Australia were produced by Beaumont Books from 1979 to 1984
and
Capricorn Books (one issue) in 1985.
64-Page
Books...
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1979
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1980
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1981
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1982
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1983
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1984
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1985
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192-Page
Books...
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1984
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Other Countries
Germany
|
?
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1979
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?
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Wurzel
|
Wurzel's
Newest Adventure |
Wurzel
The Art of Living |
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1983
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1983
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1984
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1984
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Wurzel
The Dog, Which Millions Love |
Typical
Wurzel
The Dog, Which Millions Love |
But
Wurzel
The Dog, Which Millions Love |
Leave
the Wurzel
The Dog, Which Millions Love |
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1983
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1984
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|
Wurzel
No Dog Like Any Other |
Wurzel
The Dog With a Whistle |
Spain
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2002
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Fred
Basset (2001-2002) Hardback
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