18 JANUARY 1952, Page 4

For reasons entirely explicable but not to be explained here,

I am a little behindhand in saluting the new Whitaker. For that matter Whitaker itself is a little beforehand, in producing its: 1952 edition before Christmas, a prematurity which can only be regarded as a virtue. Incidentally the classic annual is larger, and therefore contains more inform- ation, than ever. Everyone has his favourite pages in Whitaker. Mine are those which declare nakedly and crudely what the salaries of my friendS in the Civil Service are. But in fact the volume of information, none of it irrelevant, con- tained in Whitaker is stupendous. I was interested to be told some time ago that the Complete Edition at 15s. sells better than the popular and abbreviated edition at 7s. 6d.

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