Measures 5-19/32" X 8-3/32", 248+ pp, written by Dale Robertson, b&w illustrations by Ray Moore, hardcover with dust jacket published by Whitman Publishing Co. (WI), Whitman catalog #2330 on dust jacket, #2322 on book.

This is a wonderful example of one of the many problems and idiosyncrasies involved with attempting to verify the publication dates of Whitman books.  Having been in the publishing business myself for a while, I was long acquainted with the standard method of matching a NEW published edition of a book, with an OLDER edition of the dust jacket, since (as a publisher) it really didn't matter to us -- and here is a perfect example!  The dust jacket for this particular copy of THE SON OF THE PHANTOM is incorrectly numbered "2330," while the book itself is numbered "2322" on the spine (the CORRECT Whitman 2330 was SHIRLEY TEMPLE AND THE SCREAMING SPECTER, published later in 1946).  The mystery behind the mis-numbering is unknown to me, since the title fits in very nicely between SANDRA OF THE GIRL ORCHESTRA (2321) and TOM HARMON AND THE GREAT GRIDIRON PLOT (2323), both of which are suspiciously missing on the list on the back cover of the dust jacket, although DON WINSLOW AND THE F. B. I. is listed (a title which was NEVER published!), and the incomplete title for KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (without AND THE GHOST GUNS OF ROARING RIVER).  So I suspect that this dust jacket was definitely printed in early to mid-1946, since about half of the 1946 titles are listed on the back of the dust jacket.

The book itself is a different matter:  not only is it properly printed "2322" on the spine, but the title listings at the end pages include ALL the 1946 published 1946 titles (including the complete KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED AND THE GHOST GUNS OF ROARING RIVER).  The proposed title DON WINSLOW AND THE F. B. I. has been properly removed; however, BETTY HUTTON AND THE ROMANCE OF PALMETTO ISLAND has taken its place (another Whitman title which was NEVER published!).  So he book itself falls into the mid-to-late 1946 publication schedule.  

And who says Whitmans are no fun?!?

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