10 SEPTEMBER 1988, Page 25

No author

Sir: I note, from your review of In For a Penny, that unauthorised biographies (Heseltine, Maxwell and now Jeffrey Archer) continue to acquire a status grea- ter than that of authorised versions. In- deed, the term 'unauthorised', which would once have defined a lesser biogra- phy, is now included with pride in the subtitle of these books, and presumably sales increase as a result.

Once, as with T. S. Eliot, a publicised refusal to co-operate with biographers suggested personal modesty and a con- cern for privacy. Now, precisely the oppo- site seems to be the case.

Paul Keers

Editor, GQ, Vogue House, Hanover Square, London W1