Daily Casefile · Verdict
A Ghost in the Binding
≈ 4 min
On 14 July 2026, collector Meredith Soane purchased what she believed to be a genuine 1921 first edition of P.G. Wodehouse's 'The Clicking of Cuthbert' from Thornwick & Hale for £4,200. When Soane later consulted a book-authentication service, she was told the volume showed signs of modern manufacture. She reported Gerald Oast to Canterbury Trading Standards, alleging he knowingly sold her a forgery. Oast maintains he purchased the book in good faith from an estate sale and had no reason to suspect it was not genuine. The question before the court is whether Oast knew, or ought to have known, that the volume was a forgery at the time of sale.
Subject
Gerald Oast, proprietor of Thornwick & Hale Antiquarian Books
Charged with Selling a forged first edition — knowingly passing off a fraudulently produced copy of a 1921 first-edition P.G. Wodehouse novel as genuine to collector Meredith Soane for £4,200
The scene
Thornwick & Hale Antiquarian Books, a three-storey vintage bookshop in Canterbury, England, present day — a ground-floor sales floor lined with locked glass cases for rare editions, a back-room restoration bench, and a small office above the shop where appraisal records are kept.
The witnesses
- Pippa Crane — Sales assistant at Thornwick & Hale, employed six years
- Meredith Soane — Private book collector, retired schoolteacher
- Dr Anwen Probert — Rare-books authenticator, University of Kent Special Collections
- Norman Fielding — Solicitor, executor of the Ashford estate
Play today’s Verdict.
This case first aired on August 2, 2026. A fresh verdict runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.