Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Tenth Nancy Drew 1930A-1 Old Clock Dust Jacket

Please view these related posts for background information.

THIS Is a RARE Nancy Drew Book!
Scarcity of Early First Printing Nancy Drew Books
Nancy Drew 1st Printing Auctions Part 2
Nancy Drew 1st Printing Auctions Part 3
The Ninth 1930A-1 Nancy Drew Old Clock Dust Jacket

The tenth known example of the 1930A-1 Nancy Drew Old Clock dust jacket just sold this week on eBay.

1930 RARE Nancy Drew Secret of the Old Clock with DJ

The auction had the subtitle, "Bungalow Mystery Last listing on Front Flap."



The auction closed at $3,028.88, and the auction was won by a Nancy Drew collector. I am very glad that the book went to a collector, since the book means so much to collectors.

This auction is important, because it disproves David Farah's statement about how many known 1930A-1 Old Clock dust jackets exist. Farah's Guide states, "The first edition dust jacket is extremely rare with, probably, less than ten existing copies in any condition."

We now know that there are not fewer than ten surviving copies. We know that at least ten exist. I have long believed that more than ten of these dust jackets exist, and I expect to see at least a few more surface.

The sixth 1930A-1 dust jacket surfaced on eBay in 2008. Two years passed with none surfacing, and now in just the last year, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth known jackets have surfaced. My theory is that these books were in the possession of the children of the original owners. Those children would probably be around 70 years old and are now passing on.

I have more thoughts on this and another auction which closed the same evening, and that will be the content of my next post.

8 comments:

Borrowed said...

Kind of a rude comment on David's work. New information is discovered all the time.

I recently noticed that the first printing of the Hardy Boys Masked Monkey was not identified until a year or two ago.

Gayle Kaye said...

If we count Millie's copy (went to her daughter), there are actually 11 known copies of the 1st edition in DJ. Amazingly the first one didn't appear up for auction until 1996. And for the next 10 years, they were showing up few and far between, which is probably why Dave's guess was a little low. What I find interesting is that the Beverly Hills dealer was noticeably absent on this latest auction.

Jennifer White said...

I think it's wonderful to know that more copies exist than what we once thought. And I still don't see how that is a criticism of Farah's Guide. His statement was totally accurate when written and has been accurate for many years. It's just been in the last year that all of these new examples have surfaced.

It was interesting that the dealers ignored (or did they miss?) this auction. I'm going to speculate about some of that in my next post.

Coffeegulper said...

Let it go, Jennifer.
"Borrowed" only made a valid comment, in my opinion. And to see you go on at length in your reply to him/her, you strike me as someone who doth protest too much.

You seem to be biased about anyone who posts a differing opinion than you, which is why this is my final visit here. :-(

Richard

Jennifer White said...

Okay, I deleted my comment so that I don't offend everyone. Perhaps I did go on too long.

What you don't know is what this person has posted previously, I believe under multiple anonymous IDs, and only posts insults directed at certain people. I was reacting to that. There is much you don't know.

You seem to be biased about anyone who posts a differing opinion than you, which is why this is my final visit here.

I don't know what to say to this. It upsets me, but obviously I cannot try to explain myself or I'll look even worse.

This is why most people don't post comments. They don't want to be attacked. I get tired of being attacked.

Jennifer White said...

I have canceled the post that was to publish tonight. If I am feeling better about everything in the next day or so, then I'll publish it. I have nothing else to say.

Paula said...

Your blog post on the first printing Old Clocks is very encouraging! It seems more of these books from the 30's will be appearing. At the same time, the prices will most likely decrease, especially for books that are not in the best condition. This is one area of ND collecting where I welcome lower prices, as it would make the dream of owning a first printing Old Clock more attainable for the average collector. (Average collector being someone who doesn't have bottomless pockets...)

Assuming the child who read the first printings in 1930 was 8 years old at the time, that child would be 89 years old today. So I imagine there are still some of the original owners who have saved these books. Of course the books would be passed down to children as well, who would be middle-aged baby boomers (like me). Perhaps as this generation down-sizes into retirement, we will see more! I sure hope so! :)

I had missed this auction on ebay, so I really appreciate that you documented it here on your blog, Jennifer. Thanks so much as always, for sharing all your knowledge with us!

Jennifer White said...

I wrote a comment that was a bit long, but I can't post it since I could be further criticized for going on at length. So...

I appreciate your concern, and you have lifted my spirits. I'm still smarting from the attacks, but I am bouncing back. I will publish the second part of the discussion about this book. That's it. How's that for short? :)