Finding the Original Text Picture Cover of Nancy Drew #7 The Clue in the Diary

This story may seem strange to many of you, but it's a sort of game to me.  I have fun sleuthing out clues found in the photos of online listings.  I see what I can figure out without asking the seller any questions.  I am much more likely to take this approach when I don't actually need the book for my collection. When I do need the book, then I am more likely to ask questions.

One of the scarcest Nancy Drew picture cover books is the original text printing of The Clue in the Diary.  It's actually not even a printing.  It's said that one printing has the original text, but the original text copies are too scarce for them to have been used on an entire print run.

While the book is scarce, it can be found with careful online searching.  I have had a number of them pass through my hands over the years, probably around 10 of them.  So the book can be found with care and patience.  Really, just be very observant about the books for sale online, and you'll eventually locate one.

Recently, I saw a lot of nine Nancy Drew books that had to be from the early 1960s.  If you wonder how I knew the age of the books, take a look at this post.

The original text picture cover of The Clue in the Diary tends to surface in rough condition.  The blue sky is usually darker on the original text picture cover than on printings that have the revised text.  For those two reasons, I felt that this book was a good candidate for having the original text.

I stared at the photos, wondering if there was some way to tell.  There really wasn't.  I would know if I could see the endpapers, which are blue multi in the original text version.  The revised text version has black and white multi endpapers.

The seller of this listing had enough bad feedback that I did not feel confident that the seller would answer a question reliably.  But most importantly, this was a fun game.  With just the darker blue cover and rough condition, I felt that there was a 50% to 75% probability of the book having the original text.  I wondered if there was some way to tell for sure, or at least some way to see if this book had a greater than 75% probability of having the original text.  If only I could see the endpapers!

Finally, I focused on the first photo seen above, looking carefully at the top edge of the book.

Hmm...  Did I see a hint of blue multi endpapers?  Perhaps what I thought was blue was just soiling on the book...

The more I stared at the book, the more convinced I became that it could have blue multi endpapers and the original text.  I decided that the book had a 90% probability of having the original text.

Was there any way to be certain?

I focused on one small area where I could see a couple of small white marks, which I circled in the below photo.  That would be at about the center top of the pastedown.

Remember to click on the image to see a larger version.

I knew that all of the books to the right of The Clue in the Diary had blue multi endpapers for sure since I could tell that they had the original text based on the mixed-case letters of the titles on the spines.  Looking at the same part of the pastedown possibly visible on the other books revealed some white marks in the same position. 

I then pulled a Nancy Drew book with blue multi endpapers off the shelf and looked at the rear pastedown, noting where the white marks are.

I decided that The Clue in the Diary must have the original text, and I felt 100% certain.  I purchased the books, even though the rough condition made it not that great of a deal.  I was so eager to receive the package and see if I was right.

Finally, the package arrived.  I pulled out the books and removed The Clue in the Diary from the stack.  With great anticipation, I held the book in my hands, closed.  I turned the book every which way, looking at the front, back, top, bottom, and fore edge.  I knew that either I was going to be proved right or I was going to feel like the biggest idiot in the world.  And then I opened the book.

The book came open to the contents page, upon which I saw the old-style font.  Yes!  I knew it!

Look at the inside back cover in the above image.  Notice the white marks that I had noticed in the seller's picture.  The binding is a little loose, so the text block rests a little lower than it should, which is why part of the rear pastedown was visible in the seller's listing.

I used the books I had on hand to make a brain teaser post that I put on Facebook.  My original post had six books in it, two books with the original text and four books with the revised text.  I asked, "Which two of these six books have the original text?"

Most people guessed the middle books in both rows.  Those two books were the best ones to guess and probably would have been the two books that I would have chosen if I hadn't already known the answer.  Those familiar with the early picture cover copies know that the three best candidates for the original text are the middle books and the third book in the bottom row.  This is because of the darker blue tint on the covers of those books.  The other three books look just like the average revised text printing, and those three do have the revised text.

After I posted my brain teaser, I acquired another original text picture cover copy of The Clue in Diary.  It is rather strange that I acquired two of them in the same week.  The second new acquisition was easy because the seller identified the book as having the 1932 text.  I staged the photos again to include the second new acquisition of the original text picture cover.  That book is seen off to the right side in the below photos.

Here is the spine image of the seven books.  The first three books are the top row from left to right.  The next three books are the bottom row from left to right.  The last book is the one off to the right side.

The spine photo reveals which books have the original text.  When I posted my brain teaser on Facebook, I ended the post with the following statement.  "In person, you can tell for sure without opening any of the books.  The original text copies have a slightly different texture to the cover."

Do you notice anything about three of the spines as compared to the other three spines?  Look at the light from the camera flash, especially on the lower part of the cameo spine symbols.  Do you see the difference?

Check it out before you continue reading.

In the spine photo, the second, sixth, and seventh books reflect the camera flash in a different fashion, indicating a slightly different texture.  The three original text books are the second, sixth, and seventh books, or the top middle, bottom right, and far right books.

This supports what I stated originally, which is that there is no way to tell for sure which text is inside without additional information.  Seeing the texture of the cover reveals the text, but most online listings will not be photographed in such a way that the texture can be seen.  The books with a darker (or less bright) blue tint are the ones to check, but sometimes the original text books look very much like revised text books.

Notice that the third and fifth books are the thickest ones, and they have the revised text.  This actually makes sense.  The very earliest picture covers are less thick, slightly later books from the early print runs are more thick, and then all remaining picture covers are less thick again.  The original text The Clue in the Diary picture covers are from the earliest books bound, which means that they are less thick.  The brief period when the books were more thick would be the earliest of the revised text books.

The original text books are usually found in very rough shape.  I have now seen more than one original text copy in pretty nice shape, and these books do have an overall appearance that is similar to the revised text books.  The rough condition books with the darker blue sky are more likely to have the original text, but not always.  The really nice original text books are the ones that most people would love to have, and they are very hard to spot.