Buyer Confusion on Nancy Drew #28

Sometimes I grow weary of seeing the same types of questions over and over in the eBay listings. By continuing this series of posts, maybe a few new people will learn more about collecting.

Set of NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES - 1-50 - Vintage! Item #260441758400

The seller states, "I personally collected these books since the 1960s." Just this simple statement gives some important information. While it is possible that older books could have been purchased, most people probably purchased new books as children. It is reasonable to conclude that the offered books were likely printed during the 1960s.

The seller gives the copyright dates of all of the books, so it is possible to figure out which text the book has. Remember that any Nancy Drew book with a copyright date of 1956 or before must contain the original 25 chapter text. Also remember that volumes 35 and up never had 25 chapter texts in the first place.

Question: me again, you placed 1934 as the publication of the broken locket. is that when the book that you're selling is published? or did you just write publishing date of the original edition? when are the majority of these books really published?

Answer: Hi, I will check shipping to the Philippines and get back to you. The publication year for each and every book I have listed is cited inside the book. I have not made up any dates. Some of the books printed in the late 1950s and 60s were edited by Grosset & Dunlap with updated text. Many of the books were published before the 1960s when I started collecting them. It may be helpful for you to note which of the books carry the blue end pages, as these preceded the later white ones. Sincerely, Amanda

I believe the buyer is using "published" in place of "printed." The seller stated that the books were purchased beginning from the 1960s, and I can tell from the photos that most of the books are from the 1960s.

I would say that nearly all of volumes 1 through 40 in the above picture were printed during the 1960s. I am not certain about Lilac Inn since it looks like it could be from the 1970s. The books for volume 41 and up look more like the 1970s, although one or two books from the 1960s may be in that group.

I know this because Nancy Drew picture covers from the 1960s tend to have spines in varying shades of yellow. The spines are prone to fading. The lettering on the spines of Nancy Drew books from the 1960s is larger than in the 1970s and is of mixed case rather than all upper case. There are exceptions as I have stated in previous posts, but these characteristics hold true for the vast majority of the books, which makes for an easy way to narrow down the age of a picture cover edition.

Also notice how thick some of the books are, such as Broken Locket. A couple of printings of the early picture cover editions from 1962 and 1963 are quite thick, so those books definitely date from 1962 or 1963.