Beverly Gray's Move to Grosset and Dunlap

A. L. Burt published the first eight Beverly Gray books from 1934 through 1937. In early 1937, A. L. Burt was sold to Blue Ribbon Books, and this made Beverly Gray's future uncertain. At first, Blue Ribbon Books informed Clair Blank that they would continue to publish the Beverly Gray series, but by the end of 1937 the company suggested that Clair Blank offer her series to another publisher.

Clair Blank did indeed contact other publishers, including Reilly and Lee. Reilly and Lee was not interested, so Clair contacted Cupples and Leon, which was very interested. The company would probably have published the Beverly Gray books, but Clair learned that Blue Ribbon Books had suddenly decided to sell its entire catalog of juvenile series books. Beverly Gray had been sold to Grosset and Dunlap.

It is interesting that the Beverly Gray series went to Grosset and Dunlap, because most of the A. L. Burt catalog was either never published again or was sold to either Saalfield or World. The series books that went to Saalfield or World, such as Clair Blank's Adventure Girls Series, ceased to have new titles. Saalfield and World did not have the budgets to pay for new titles; they were strictly reprint houses.

Any series that went to Saalfield or World is not very difficult to find today due to the many reprints, but the downside is that those series did end with the titles published by Burt. Some series, such as the Girl Scouts Mystery Series by Virginia Fairfax, were not sold to another publisher and disappeared from print. This is why the Fairfax books are now so scarce and elusive.

The Girls Scouts Series by Edith Lavell is another series that Burt published that disappeared after Blue Ribbon Books dissolved the Burt catalog. The Linda Carlton Series by Edith Lavell was sold to Saalfield, but only the first three titles were reprinted by Saalfield. Volume 4, Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer, and volume 5, Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight, are exceedingly scarce (rare would unquestionably apply to these two books) and nearly impossible to find since they were only published by Burt.

It is because Beverly Gray was sold to Grosset and Dunlap rather than to Saalfield or World that the series continued to be published. If Blue Ribbon Books had sold the rights to either Saalfield or World, there would have been no more new titles. Clair Blank contacted Saalfield to ask whether they would be publishing new Adventure Girls books, and she was told that they were not interested. The answer would have surely been the same if Beverly Gray had been sold to Saalfield.

Beverly Gray was the A. L. Burt Company's best-selling series aside from the Famous Books for Young Americans. This fact was stated by Clair Blank's old editor in a letter that was reprinted in Yellowback Library No. 66. It must have been because Beverly Gray was the best-selling A. L. Burt series that it was purchased by Grosset and Dunlap.

It is indeed fortunate that Grosset and Dunlap purchased Beverly Gray and continued to print new titles each year. The series ultimately lasted for a total of 26 volumes. Grosset and Dunlap may not have given Beverly Gray the best cover art and may not have treated her as well as they could have, but at least they gave her a home and kept her around for nearly 20 more years after the demise of A. L. Burt.