In addition to his book publications, W.E. Johns had a successful career contributing to magazines and newspapers. In 1950 he collected a number of his occasional pieces in Short Sorties and noted in an introduction that “these stories were written at odd moments...” Several stories in that collection had an American flavour and Johns stated “some were written for American magazines after our own short story market had almost died for lack of paper; which is why a transatlantic influence is sometimes evident.” The present collection, from the estate of the author, reveals occasional annotation and comprises a fine collection of the author’s work in this sphere.

Some of the more significant pieces include: ‘A Clean Alibi’, typescript, 12 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Big Business’, carbon typescript, 14 pages; ‘Canterbury Tale’, typescript, 12 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Double-Cross’, carbon typescript, 14 pages (numbered from page 140); ‘Encounter’, carbon typescript, 17 pages (numbered from page 168); ‘Flotsam & Jetsam’, carbon typescript, 23 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘From Here to Where?’, corrected carbon typescript, 5 pages; ‘Hunters’ Moon’, carbon typescript, 12 pages, bound in wrappers’; ‘Intermezzo con amore’, corrected carbon typescript, 15 pages; ‘Mischievous Melody’, carbon typescript, 14 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Mothers in Arms’, carbon typescript, 10 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Mothers in Arms’, corrected carbon typescript, 9 pages; ‘Potpourri’, corrected typescript, 21 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Reunion’, corrected carbon typescript, 14 pages (numbered from page 154); ‘Sky Fever’, carbon typescript, 15 pages (numbered from page 58); ‘Some Go in Darkness’, typescript, 6 pages, bound in wrappers [together with publication from Maclean’s Magazine, 15 February 1942]; ‘Souvenir’, carbon typescript, 16 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Souvenir’, carbon typescript, 17 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Souvenir’, corrected carbon typescript, 16 pages; ‘The Career of Julia Wayne… by Mary Broughton Leigh’, carbon typescript, 27 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘The Life of a Language’, carbon typescript, 11 pages; ‘The Reckoning’, typescript, 16 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘The Ring’, carbon typescript, 11 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘The Tourist’, carbon typescript, 8 pages; ‘Under the Hammer’, carbon typescript, 12 pages, bound in wrappers; ‘Wine With a Lady’, carbon typescript, 9 pages and ‘Wine With a Lady’, extensively corrected carbon typescript, 13 pages