The Final Original Text Printing of Nancy Drew #22 Crumbling Wall

I have purchased several bulk lots lately, including a near-complete set of Nancy Drew books.  I always go through the books, checking to see if any books are special printings or have anomalies.  I found one book of special interest that stood out.

A picture cover of Nancy Drew #22, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, grabbed my attention because it had the original text and was quite thin.  I have written about how easy it is to tell at a glance whether a picture cover Nancy Drew book has the original text.  The lettering style on the spine is a key indicator.

Buyer Confusion on Nancy Drew #9

I could see immediately that Crumbling Wall had the original text, and I was struck by how thin the book was.  I believe it is the thinnest original text picture cover that I have ever seen.  I also thought that the tint was a little different from most other copies that I have.  I collect picture covers with tint variations, and original text Crumbling Wall is one of the titles with the greatest variation in tint.

I flipped through the book twice to make sure that pages weren't missing.  They were all there.  I examined everything about the book and everything tallied with what would be expected of an original text copy except for the book being so thin.  I knew that the book had to be from near the end of the run of the original text printings of Crumbling Wall and that it had been printed in the 1970s.

I first checked on the tint.

Here are my six original text copies of The Clue in the Crumbling Wall.  The first four copies (top row and first book on the left of the bottom row) are first picture cover books.  The large variance in tint in the first picture cover printing makes it apparent that the first picture cover printing was likely several printings.

The middle book in the bottom row lists to Spider Sapphire on the back cover.  Its tint is lighter than the first picture cover printings.  The last book in the bottom row is my new acquisition.  It has a slightly different lighter tint and lists to The Double Jinx Mystery followed by The Nancy Drew Cookbook.

Checking Farah's Guide verified my suspicion that this new acquisition is the very last printing of the original text.

Take a look at the spines of all six original text books, pictured in the same order as the above picture, followed by the first revised text printing.

Once I looked at the spines, I noticed the volume number.  The "22" on my new acquisition, second from the right, is in the same style as the "22" on the first printing of the revised text.  It's interesting that the volume number changed to the revised text style before the first printing of the revised text.  

"Crumbling" on the spine of my new acquisition wraps around slightly to the front cover of the book.  The book is too thin for the lettering style.  Also, the book is the same thickness as the first printing of the revised text.  The wraparound effect of "Crumbling" can be seen in the next photo of it along with the first printing of the revised text.

Both the last printing of the original text and the first printing of the revised text list to The Double Jinx Mystery followed by The Nancy Drew Cookbook on the back cover.  The two printings have several external characteristics in common, but the insides are completely different.

Nancy Drew Book Club Editions with a Possible Anomaly

I purchased a bulk lot of Nancy Drew books which arrived today.  The books are a mixture of early picture cover books with some book club edition picture covers.  This is what I received, which have not been placed in order.

The books are generally in nice shape, although some are in rough condition.  The books smell like new books.  They smell quite nice, so they must have been kept somewhere that prevented the books from taking on an old book smell.  This is quite unusual for books that are 45 to 55 years old.

I love purchasing bulk lots, because this is how I have acquired most of my printing anomalies.  As I pull the books from the box, I always check each book for anything that appears different.  One copy of Blackwood Hall has the Tandy art matched with the revised text.  I already have one, but this one is much nicer.  I will have to keep both my copy and the new one, since my copy is an earlier printing even though in worse shape.

The lot also contains a Ski Jump PC where the red on the front cover doesn't look right, similar to the one pictured in this post.  I will have to compare the two books to see how different they are.

The lot contains quite a few of the Nancy Drew book club edition picture cover books. Most of them are in pretty nice shape.  I will have to make certain that none of them are better than my copies.  I still have just a few that need to be upgraded.

As I looked at the book club editions, I suddenly realized that four of them have ink on the top edge.  This is quite strange.

My first thought was that some text blocks for the regular edition were bound in the book club edition bindings.  However, all four state "Book Club Edition" on the title page, so that doesn't explain it.

My next thought, which is the most likely explanation, is that the original owner colored the top page edges with marker.  I set out to prove that this is the case, since it just about has to be the explanation.

I found my Nancy Drew book where I know that someone colored the top page edges with marker.  That book has smudges all through the book near the top edge that were caused from the marker application.

The above book is the book from this post.  By the way, the seller of the above book always uses marker on the books she sells.  I wish she didn't do that.

Back to today's book club editions.  The four books show no sign of smudging like the above book.  I then looked at the top edge of each fore edge to see how much ink has bled down.  They have a small amount.  I decided to compare them to other early picture cover books in my possession that did not come from this lot.  In the below picture, the four book club editions with ink on the top edge are the four books at the left.  The remaining six books are regular editions that are early picture cover books. Hollow Oak was placed on top to force the camera to focus.

Some of the six books to the right actually have slightly more ink bleeding down than the four book club editions do.

My results are inconclusive, but I found no evidence to indicate that the owner used marker on those four books.  On the other hand, I have to assume that marker was carefully applied even though the top edges look identical to the regular editions with ink on them.  However, if marker was applied, the person who did it managed to match the color exactly.

Here is one last photo, showing the four book club editions to the left and four regular editions to the right.  If the ones on the left were colored on top by hand by someone, they did an awful good job of making the books look like they came from the bindery that way.

Have any of you ever found Nancy Drew book club edition picture cover books that have ink on the top edge?

A "Lilac" Nancy Drew Lilac Inn

I purchased some Nancy Drew books recently, including two copies of the Nancy Drew book, The Mystery at Lilac Inn.  Since I had two copies of this book right in front of me, I immediately noticed that one of them has a purple tint to the cover.  I had never seen this before.

The book on the left has the normal illustration, and the book on the right has the purple tint.  The book with the purple tint lists to Crooked Banister on the back cover.  The inside lists Nancy Drew to 99 Steps and Dana Girls to Silver Dolphin.  The book meets the points for the 1971A-100 printing according to Farah's 12th edition.

One collector reported that he has two of the books with the purple tint and recalls having a third years ago.  The two books currently in this collector's possession list to the same titles as mine.  Another collector reported having seen the purple version.  Since we have had several of these books spotted, we can conclude that a number of them exist.  Since we know of at least three copies that have the same points, then we can also conclude that at least a partial print run has the purple tint.  This means that more of them are out there.

I find the purple tint to be quite attractive.  While I have always loved this book's cover art, I like the purple version even better.  I'm not sure if this is more due to the novelty or because the purple tint does indeed make the cover more attractive.  I tend to think that the latter is true.  When I placed a scan of this book on my Facebook page, at least four people stated that they like the purple version better, so I'm not the only one.

Farah's Guide gives the 1971A-100 print run a value of $5.00.  Since collectors seem to like the purple version, the value of the purple book would most likely be higher than $5.00, perhaps around $10.00. 

Nancy Drew Moss-Covered Mansion Anomaly

I bought this very interesting book recently on eBay.

What makes the book unusual is that the cover and spine have the title as The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion.  The title of the book is actually The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion.  The inside of the book is normal with the title as The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion. What is especially baffling is that all other copies of this book that I have ever seen printed from 1941 through the last 1971 original text printing have "at" instead of "of."   When the book was revised in 1971, the title was changed to Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion.  Even that title does not match this book exactly, since "The" was removed from the title in 1971.

Aside from the problem with the title, the book and jacket meet the points for the 1947B-17 printing according to Farah's 12th edition.  Farah has noted with this printing that "some copies have Endpapers #2."  Those endpapers are the orange silhouette endpapers, which this book does have.

When I first saw this book on eBay, I knew that I wanted to buy it, but I had to wait a week for the auction to end.  In the meantime, I tried to reason out how this book exists.  I thought about international editions, but no, "Grosset and Dunlap" appears on the spine.  I wondered whether this could be some kind of trick just like I did when I found this book.  The seller had such good pictures that I thought that the book must be as it appeared.  I finally came up with an explanation after either two or three days, which is what I still believe now that I have the book and have thought more about it.

The 1947B-17 Farah's Guide printing is the second printing of the solid blue book, which is the binding style of this book.  The solid blue binding is the binding seen in the 1947-1951 section of my Nancy Drew Formats page.  Even though a book might be designated as the second printing of a certain format in Farah's Guide, sometimes bindings, endpapers, and other aspects of the book might match a printing right before or after that Farah's Guide printing.

My supposition is that the binding, or rather, cover stock, of this book was one of the first ones printed for The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion in the solid blue format.  Further, a mistake was made and the first ones printed had the title wrong on the cover and spine of the book.  If I am right, then this book is not the only example that exists.  I doubt that only one book has the misprinted title.  Surely other books were printed with the same mistake.

If so, then someone should be able to confirm that other examples exist.  If you own a solid blue binding of The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion, check to see whether the title is correct on the book.  I am confident that there is no reason to check any books other than the ones that have the same binding style as this book.  Does anybody have one with the wrong title?

More Nancy Drew Picture Cover Anomalies

Last month, I bought a large lot of Nancy Drew picture cover editions and found four books that caught my attention.

I found a revised text picture cover of Hollow Oak with blue multi endpapers.

The book meets the points for the 1972B-68 printing according to Farah's 12th edition.

3/3/ND#1-49
bl/bl/syn/pf/tp/cp/tc/bl//bl/bl

This printing is the introduction of the 1972 text and third cover art. It matches all points in Farah's Guide, including the two blank pages at the end (bl/bl) just before the endpapers. The book has blue multi endpapers, which is what got my attention. Normally, the books switched to the black and white multi endpapers when the text was revised.

I already have the same printing in my collection—or so I thought. This book has the black and white multi endpapers, unlike the above book.

The book does not have the extra blank pages at the front and the back, which means its points would be listed like this in Farah's Guide.

3/3/ND#1-49
syn/pf/tp/cp/tc/bl//none

The above points match the 1972A-67 printing, except that the book should have the original text and second cover art. Since this book has the revised text and third cover art, it should be the 1972B-68 printing, but the missing blank pages make it a mismatch.
..............................
I found another book that is identical to the one mentioned in "A Nancy Drew Revised Text PC with Blue Multi Endpapers." The book I just found is identical to the one pictured in that post down to every point.
..............................
I found a Haunted Bridge PC listing to Mirror Bay with reversed black and white multi endpapers.

The left and right endpapers are each on the wrong side. The rear endpapers are also reversed.
..............................
I found a Bungalow Mystery listing to Crooked Banister that has the black and white multi endpapers. This would not seem odd, except that I'm pretty sure that I normally see blue multi endpapers on all of the revised text Bungalow Mystery books up to 1973 printings. I checked several books in my possession, and I found blue multi endpapers.

Farah's Guide has never noted which endpapers are present for each specific printing, except for earlier formats. I am discovering that much is unknown about the endpapers for the revised text picture cover books.

Nancy Drew Reverse Multi Endpapers

An anomaly that appears in some Nancy Drew books with blue multi endpapers is the reverse blue multi endpapers.

If you compare the above image to the usual blue multi endpapers, you will see what is different. All of the images are turned around in the reverse direction. This particular book is The Secret at Shadow Ranch listing to Fire Dragon on the back cover. It is an early picture cover printing, but not the first picture cover printing.

I have been told that this anomaly is generally found on early or first picture cover books.

A Nancy Drew Revised Text PC with Blue Multi Endpapers

All first printing Nancy Drew picture covers for #1-38 have the blue multi endpapers regardless of whether the books have the original or revised text. #1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 have the revised 20 chapter texts with the blue multi endpapers. All picture cover printings of these five books up into the early 1970s kept the blue multi endpapers.

Many other books switched to the black and white multi endpapers during the same time that those five books kept the blue and white multi endpapers. For instance, #7 was revised down to 20 chapters in the second picture cover printing, so all picture cover printings of #7, except for the very first one, have the black and white multi endpapers.

As other books were revised, the endpapers switched to the black and white multi endpapers.  As far as I know, the books always switched to the black and white endpapers during the same printing that the text switched to the revised text.  It would be rather unusual to find a revised text picture cover book, aside from #1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, that has the blue multi endpapers.

Last week I acquired a copy of The Whispering Statue which has the 1970 revised text and the blue multi endpapers.

The book lists to Mirror Bay on the back cover and matches the points for the 1972A-61 printing according to Farah's 12th edition.  One could conjecture that perhaps revised text printings of Whispering Statue kept the blue multi endpapers for a few printings.  However, I have another book that disproves this theory.

I have a Whispering Statue that lists to Crooked Banister and matches the points for the 1971A-59 printing.  This book has the black and white multi endpapers.  The above pictured book appears to be an unusual anomaly.

Nevertheless, I know from past experience that if one exists, others may very well exist.  Do any of you have one?

Nancy Drew #56 2nd Printing 1980A-2

I have a 1980A-2 printing of Thirteenth Pearl according to Farah's 12th edition. There is not anything odd about the book itself, and it is just like the many other 2nd printings that have passed through my hands. It lists to #56 on the back cover and on the order form. It has Triple Hoax in italics on page 178.

I was writing the description of the book to sell it and was noting in the description that the book has a date written inside. I then realized that the date of "Christmas 1979" is rather odd for a book that was supposed to be printed in 1980 as Farah's Guide states.

I knew what this meant, but before acting upon it, I examined the book closely. I looked at my old "now sold" listings for the 2nd printing. I discovered little differences about Thirteenth Pearl that have no bearing on this topic, such as the fact that the first two printings have "TM" after Nancy Drew on the back cover. That "TM" has to be a reaction to the rights to the series transferring to Simon and Schuster. That was interesting although of no relevance to my issue.

The 1979 date is strong circumstantial evidence that the second printing was in 1979 rather than in 1980. It does not prove that the book was printed in 1979 since we do not know for a fact that the date was actually written inside the book in December 1979. However, dates are normally written inside books when the books are first purchased.

I contacted David Farah with this information. Farah told me that the dates used in his guide are the earliest ones that he has been able to prove. In past guides, he has changed printings to earlier years based on inscribed dates such as the one I found. Farah has made note of this inscription and plans to move the second printing earlier in the next guide.

I am glad I actually had the presence of mind to notice the date and the significance of it.

The Nancy Drew Fire Dragon $1 Box PC Update

Back in January, I reported of a Fire Dragon $1 box edition that lists to Dancing Puppet on the inside instead of to Fire Dragon. Lian has also reported finding one, so we know of at least two examples. From what David Farah told me, it sounds like this one will make it into a future updated edition of his guide.


What this means is that we can no longer assume that all $1 box editions of Fire Dragon that surface are in fact first PCs. You need to ask the sellers what the Fire Dragon $1 box books list to on the inside, if that information is not given.

Over a year ago, I poked fun at all of the listings that claim that the $1 box Fire Dragon is RARE. I find extras of the Fire Dragon $1 box PC far more often than the other titles; in fact, I found one in just the last few weeks. If some of the $1 box Fire Dragon PCs list to Fire Dragon and others list to Dancing Puppet, that sheds light on why Fire Dragon seems to show up more often than the other $1 box PCs.

The Nancy Drew First PC That Isn't

Many of the picture cover Nancy Drew books have just one printing that lists to Fire Dragon on the back cover, so all copies that surface that list to Fire Dragon for those particular titles must be first picture cover editions. This is the case for #18, The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion.

The first picture cover printing of #18 lists to Fire Dragon on the back cover and to Dancing Puppet on the inside. The second printing cover printing lists to Whistling Bagpipes on the back cover and to Dancing Puppet on the inside.

I had what I thought was a first picture cover printing of the Nancy Drew book, The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion. I had identified it as the first PC based on the back cover list, since only one printing lists to Fire Dragon on the back cover.

I put the book up for sale, giving the interior list information. As I listed the book, I failed to register the fact that the interior list for this book goes to 99 Steps and Dana Girls to Silver Dolphin.

A prospective buyer pointed out the discrepancy, which I thought was a mistake on my part. I was chagrined to discover that the book does list to 99 Steps and Silver Dolphin on the inside, and I did not even notice the problem. The book is supposed to list only to Dancing Puppet and Sierra Gold, yet mine lists all the way to 99 Steps. This is another odd one that does not fit. The outside of the book appears to be from 1962 while the inside appears to be from 1966 to 1970. I'm keeping this book for now, since it interests me.

Which Is More Common?

Is the Nancy Drew Format 12 book with Dana Girls endpapers...

more or less common than the Nancy Drew Format 12 book with orange silhouette endpapers?

Both are mentioned in Farah's Guide as variations of Format 12, which normally has blue silhouette endpapers. People make such a big deal about the Dana Girls endpapers that the Dana Girls endpapers seem more common.

What do you think?

Until I found this book, I had forgotten that Format 12 can have orange silhouette endpapers. Nobody ever mentions it.

A Fire Dragon $1 Box Oddity

Back in early October, I listed an extra copy of the $1 box first PC of Nancy Drew #38 on Bonanzle. I knew that Farah's Guide lists just one printing of the $1 box PC, so I listed my book with the usual mentions of the interior and exterior lists and stated that it was the first printing picture cover with the $1 box.

I am so aware that Farah's Guide has just one printing for #1-6, 37, and 38 with the $1 boxes that I failed to notice that my book did not quite fit. A reader of this blog uses the listings of several sellers, including me, to figure out the specifics of the first printing picture covers in lieu of having a copy of Farah's Guide. Soon after I listed the book, she asked me about my listing. She had noted that I stated that my book listed to Dancing Puppet on the interior list but that she had seen other listings where the first PC listed to Fire Dragon on the interior list.

My first thought was that I had messed up the listing. I checked the listing and noted that I stated that it listed to Dancing Puppet. I then found the book, which did indeed list to Dancing Puppet on the inside. Last, I checked Farah's Guide and verified that the first PC printing of Fire Dragon lists to Fire Dragon on the inside, so I had another anomaly.

I seem to be a magnet for books that do not fit. I placed the listing on reserved status, since I like to hold onto books that are different for a while. I still have the book, and I still have the listing saved in reserve. Here is a screen cap, since only I can see it:

Click on the image to see a larger version that can be read easier.

I looked through Farah's Guide and noted that all of the first printing picture cover books with the $1 box list to Fire Dragon on the inside. The second printing picture covers of those titles have the blackened suggested retail price box and list to Dancing Puppet on the inside. My book has the $1 box and lists to Dancing Puppet, so it seems to be a composite of the $1 box and the blackened retail price box printings.

Does anyone else have a $1 box PC that lists to Dancing Puppet?

A Very Unusual Nancy Drew Book

I bought a very interesting book last week. It is one of the most interesting purchases I have made in the last couple of years. I believe it is a printing anomaly, and a rather bizarre one at that. In the past, I have referred to several Nancy Drew printing anomalies as "bizarre," but this one trumps them all. This book is a thousand times more bizarre. If I did not have it in my possession, I would think it was a scam. In fact, when I viewed the seller's auction, I was concerned that the book was not what it appeared to be.


For those of you who have Farah's Guide, I have a book with boards that match that of Format #13. The boards are Cover Stock #6. The book is Format #13 in every way except for one thing: The book has digger endpapers. No one has ever mentioned seeing digger endpapers on any book from Format #13.

Nancy Drew books in Format #13 were printed during 1949 and 1950. Format #13 books are commonly called "solid blue" books. These are the books that came right before the tweed format. The Format #13 books all have blue silhouette endpapers—or so we thought. The tweed format began in 1951, and for a short time, the early tweed books were printed with blue silhouette endpapers. The digger endpapers were not introduced until 1953, two years later.

It does not make sense for a Format #13 book to have digger endpapers, since Format #13 ended two years before the introduction of the digger endpapers. As soon as I had the book in my possession, I carefully looked it over to see if it could be some kind of scam. It does not look like the book has been tampered with, except for the unfortunate fact that someone took black ink or marker and heavily darkened the top edge of the text block. Aside from that, the book looks fine to me.

I decided that the book is not a hoax. My other thought was that the book could be some kind of international edition. We have discussed the "blue velvet" Dana Girls books recently in one of the Yahoo! Groups, but I see nothing to indicate that this book is something similar to that. The dust jacket has no special codes, nor does the book have any special markings that I can find. Besides, if the book were an international edition, it seems we would have seen some of these already.

If the book is not a hoax or an international edition, then it must be a very strange misprint variant. But how? How would digger endpapers end up on a book that is in an earlier format?

The dust jacket meets all of the points for the 1955C-34 printing according to Farah's 12th edition. The book seems to be Format #13 from 1949-1950 except for the digger endpapers. After closely examining the book against Farah's Guide, I determined that the inside of the book cannot be from before 1953. The first page of the story does not have the title of the book present on that page. Printings from 1953 on did not have the title on the first page of the story. Books in Format #13 are supposed to have the title present on the first page of the story. Therefore, this book that appears to be in Format #13 is from 1953 or later.

It could be that a 1955 dust jacket is on a 1953 book, or it could be that the book and jacket are from 1955. I have checked the book and the jacket, and I can find nothing about the wear to the jacket that is obviously different than that of the book. This does not prove that the jacket is original to the book, but no evidence exists to disprove it. If we assume that the book and jacket are from 1955, then we have a very bizarre variant book.

Both Jenn Fisher and David Farah agree that this is a very unusual book. David Farah wrote:

"It seems strange to me that this hasn't come up before. Not on any volume where there were several years between cover stocks rather than just being used near the time they were discontinued.

I get lots of potential listings which turn out to be incorrect, which is why I usually don't list anything remotely controversial unless I get two confirmations.

I trust that Jennifer knows what she is looking at, but I still find it unusual.

I have to agree. Consider that in decades of gathering data about the Nancy Drew series that David Farah has never run across a book like this one. Exactly what do I have here? How did it happen?

I have one theory, which is that solid blue boards from another series ended up on a Nancy Drew book. I have always assumed that all of the Grosset and Dunlap books switched from this format to tweed at about the same time. I know that the Judy Bolton books remained in the tweed format during the early 1960s longer than other series. For that reason, I wondered whether any Grosset and Dunlap books remained in this format longer before going to the tweed format.

If so, the books that would be of interest would be ones that are solid blue. Vicki Barr and Beverly Gray are the two series that come to mind. If anyone can think of others, please let me know. I checked my Beverly Gray books, and it appears that Beverly Gray went to the tweed format at least a year later than Nancy Drew, but likely not as late as 1953. I have never paid enough attention to Vicki Barr to know exactly what happened with the Vicki Barr series.

I will have additional comments to make about this book and related topics in the coming days.

The Crossword Cipher Saga Continues...

This is just amazing. I bought this lot of books on eBay: Nancy Drew 10 hardcovers 1933 & up GREAT set!!! Item #220494603776 I only bought the lot because of the library binding of Whispering Statue, not that I really needed another library binding. The books didn't look to be in very good shape, in spite of the seller's comments. I just received the books, and they are what I expected—not in very good shape. Whenever I buy library bindings, they usually come with poor condition books, and that is what I expect regardless of what the seller states. As I pull Nancy Drew picture covers from packages, I always turn to the back cover to see what is the last title listed. I get to the rather trashed copy of Crossword Cipher and... it lists to Pine Hill on the back cover. The elusive first printing! Or is it? The book lists to Pine Hill on the back cover, which meets the points for the elusive 1967A-1 printing. However, we have a problem. The elusive first printing has no interior list of titles... then why on earth does mine have a list of titles? It is on the reverse side of the last page of text, which is page 177. The list of titles is ND #1-43 and DG #1-27. This matches the interior list for the third, fourth, and fifth printings. So I seem to have a hybrid between the first and one of three later printings. So what do I have? Do I have the elusive first printing? As far as I'm concerned, I have yet another interesting anomaly. I'm not convinced that it is the first printing. I still think that the "first printing" of Crossword Cipher is more of an anomaly, even though multiple examples exist. So if you own a Crossword Cipher listing to Pine Hill, does your book have a post-text list of titles? This gets stranger and stranger.

Do you own the first printing of Crossword Cipher?

Recently, Jenn Fisher asked me if I owned the first printing of the 44th Nancy Drew book, The Clue in the Crossword Cipher. I replied that I did not, and she shared that she does not own one either. We wondered why it is so hard to find.

I was reminded of this when I received a complete set of all 56 Nancy Drew picture covers. This set came from someone's collection. It contained nearly all first printing picture covers from #8 up through #56. #44 was one of the very few books that was the second printing instead of the first printing. I already had the third printing, so now I have both the second and third printings.

I find it very odd that the first printing is so elusive. Now I have an idea about this, but it is based upon what I think is the true scarcity of the first printing. I need to get an idea of how many other people actually own one.

I have created two polls. The first poll asks whether respondents own the first, second, or third printing of Crossword Cipher. The first printing of Crossword Cipher lists only to #42 on the back cover. Both the second and third printings list to #44, and I bet many people own a second or third printing and think they have the first printing.

The second printing of Crossword Cipher has no interior list, either pre-text or post-text. The third printing of Crossword Cipher has an interior post-text list of titles that ends with #43.

In my second poll, I ask which scarce picture cover printings are owned by the respondents. The list includes the $1 box editions, #7 with the 1932 text, #11 man with pipe 1934 and 1965 text variants, #41 with the tri-fold, #44 listing to #42 on the back cover, #49 with the yellow overlay on back cover, #55 first printing, and #56 first printing. That should cover the scarcest picture cover printings, aside from any unusual anomalies that have been mentioned in this blog but not documented in Farah's Guide.

This brings me to what I really think: I suspect that the first printing of Crossword Cipher is an anomaly and that possibly very few examples exist. I could be wrong, so I need to get an idea of how many people have one. I know it exists, since Farah's Guide has documented it. But was it really an entire print run as is suggested by Farah's Guide? I doubt it.

Crossword Cipher was published in 1967. Checking Farah's Guide, 1967 books tend to list to either #43 or #44 on the back cover. 1965 and 1966 books tend to list to #42. It is rather odd that the 1967 first printing of Crossword Cipher lists only to #42. This is why I think it might be an anomaly—perhaps it was a mistake or leftover back boards were used on some copies.

Aside from that, it will be interesting to see how many people own the other scarce picture printings, especially the ones that are regularly touted as so extremely RARE on eBay.

If you own one of the first three printings of Crossword Cipher or any of the scarce picture cover editions, I would really appreciate you taking the time to answer the polls.

More on Cover Art Anomalies

I recently mentioned that sometimes the cover design gets shifted up, down, left, or right from the normal position. An excellent example of this anomaly appeared in a recent eBay auction.

#1 NANCY DREW SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK RARE PRINT ERROR Item #330356386552


In this example, the cover was shifted significantly to the left. This caused part of the back cover to appear on the spine and part of the spine to appear on the front cover.

The book sold for $8.50, and the auction had two bidders. It is not easy to sell an ordinary copy of the first Nancy Drew book, so the bidders were probably interested in obtaining this particular copy.

Cover Art Anomalies

In a comment to my last post, it was pointed out that the yellow band on that book is wider than usual. Sometimes when a book is printed, the cover art gets shifted up, down, left, or right from the normal position. The result is that the outer portions of the cover art that are not normally seen are sometimes visible. We tend not to think about this when we look at our books, but the original paintings for the cover art were cropped when used for the covers.

I have the copper printing plate that was used to make the wraparound dust jacket for the Dana Girls book, A Three-Cornered Mystery. Notice how the bottom edge of the printing plate has more of the artwork on it than what appeared on the dust jacket.


I am sure that some examples of A Three-Cornered Mystery have covers that show more of the bottom edge of the illustration.

I have a picture cover of the Nancy Drew book, The Haunted Bridge, seen at the left below, in which the cover art was shifted to the left and wrapped onto the spine. The end result is that more of the right edge of the cover art appears on the book.


Not only is the cover art shifted to the left, it is also shifted up slightly from the normal position.

A Nancy Drew PC with Unprinted Endpapers

Awhile back, I ran across this Nancy Drew matte picture cover:


What makes the book odd is that the book has unprinted endpapers.


The glossy flashlight editions have unprinted endpapers, but all of the matte picture covers are supposed to have printed endpapers.

The book is a matte picture cover edition of The Clue in the Old Album. The back cover lists NDC, #1-25, #53, #26-52, and #54. By the back cover list, the book matches the 1977B-44 printing according to Farah's 12th edition. The first problem is that the 1977B-44 printing is supposed to be the introduction of the 1977 text, but this book has the original 1947 text. The second problem is that the 1977B-44 printing is also supposed to have an order form inside the book, but this book has no order form nor is there any indication that an order form was ever present.

This another uncommon variation of boards, endpapers (or lack of), and text block that is not mentioned in Farah's Guide. Does that mean that the book is RARE? Not necessarily. There may be a bunch of these, for all I know. Just because a book is not mentioned in Farah's Guide does not mean that it is rare. Some sellers try to sell books from printings that are not yet documented in Farah's Guide as extremely rare, valuable books. Farah's Guide is a continuing work in progress and will never catch all of the variations. It is an impossible task.

I went back and looked at my older posts on Nancy Drew printing anomalies. Several of these oddities have a common denominator: The books list to Parchment either on the back cover or inside the book. Check them out:

Nancy Drew Printing Anomaly

A Bizarre Nancy Drew PC Anomaly

Nancy Drew Mirror Bay Black Print Back Cover

Did something go screwy in 1977?

Nancy Drew Mirror Bay Black Print Back Cover

I recently posted that I had found two copies of The Secret of Mirror Bay with all of the print on the back cover in black. Normally, "Solve these Thrilling Mystery Stories with NANCY DREW" and "By CAROLYN KEENE" are in red ink.

I had also found one copy of The Whispering Statue with all of the print in black on the back cover. Both copies of The Secret of Mirror Bay plus the one copy of The Whispering Statue all list to Parchment on the back cover and on the order form inside the book.

I have now found a third copy of The Secret of Mirror Bay with all of the print in black on the back cover. This copy does not have the gray overstamp of the price on the back cover.


This third example of The Secret of Mirror Bay also lists to Parchment on the back cover and on the order form. Of the three Mirror Bays, two have the original price of $2.50 on the back cover while one has the gray overstamp of the price.

It is beginning to look like these books are not that hard to find. There must be more of them, because I now have found three copies of Mirror Bay without even trying. All of these books have turned up in complete sets or near complete sets of Nancy Drew picture cover editions from the 1970s that I bought on eBay.

More Nancy Drew Printing Anomalies

I have two more interesting printing anomalies which I have had for a long time. These two books are examples of printing errors; something went wrong when the books were printed. Here is a PC of The Mystery at the Ski Jump in which Nancy's sweater and the man's hat are orange instead of red:


I have seen other examples in which the sweater and hat look more orange than red, but the above example is the most extreme case that I have seen.

Here is a PC of The Secret of the Old Clock in which the different colors used on the outside of the book were printed on the book out of alignment with each other:


When I bought it, the seller advertised it as a 3-D book and enclosed a pair of 3-D glasses. The seller was right. The illustration is 3-D! It even looks kind of 3-D even without the special glasses.