Buyer Questions from Summer 2014

With the Hardy Boys books: when you say, 1930 DJ, does that mean it is a new book with a copy of an old dust jacket? Otherwise, I would think you would show pictures of the book under the jacket, and the inside of the front. It does take a lot of describing to allow a buyer to know exactly what they are getting. 

This question was asked about an eBay listing.  I have observed over the years that my practice of placing the copyright date in the title of many of my listings apparently upsets quite a few people.  I have always thought that the copyright date is the easiest way to tell if a book has the original text.  For instance, any Nancy Drew book with a copyright date of 1956 or before is an original text book with 25 chapters.  Silly me, because I have discovered that I am apparently the only person who thinks that the copyright date is helpful.  Everyone else likes to check the list of chapter titles to see how many chapters are present.  Some buyers ask every single seller how many chapters a book has instead of using the copyright date or visual clues.

That aside, my original assumption was that the person who wrote the above question was confused, as many buyers are.  However, I was puzzled that the buyer stated that I needed to provide a photograph of the book under the jacket.  I found a Hardy Boys listing that had "1930 DJ" in the title, figuring that was the one that prompted the question.

Hardy Boys #9 Great Airport Mystery 1930 DJ

How very odd...  I do show a picture of the book underneath the jacket, just like I do on almost every single listing of a book that has a jacket.  Ignoring that, I decided to respond to the question with the assumption that the buyer was confused while explaining the bit about the copyright date.  I tried to convey as much information as I could as briefly as I could.  I responded as follows.

I typically do photograph the books as well as the jackets. If you can let me know which listings are giving you trouble, I'll clarify. I give the last title listed on the jacket in the listings. For my listing, "Hardy Boys #9 Great Airport Mystery 1930 DJ," I state in the description that the jacket lists to Chinese Junk. Chinese Junk was published in 1960. Since Airport Mystery has Chinese Junk as the last title, then that means that Airport Mystery was printed in 1960 which is the year that Chinese Junk, the last title listed, was first published.

The reason that "1930" was placed in the title was so that buyers know immediately that the book has the original text from 1930 rather than the revised text from the 1960s. Most people prefer the original text books and seek them. I give the copyright date in the title so that buyers know that the book has the older copyright date, which of course is not the year the book was printed. In the rare case that I have a first printing, I give that information, but you can safely assume that my books are not first printings unless I say that they are.

You asked if the book is new. I do not sell new Hardy Boys books, and I do not sell jacket copies. All of my Hardy Boys books currently for sale are vintage from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. All Hardy Boys with jackets are no newer than 1961, which is when they stopped printing the books with jackets. All jackets are original jackets from whenever the book was printed.

I have some reviews and guides on eBay. If you click on my user ID and scroll to the bottom of the resulting page, you will see them. I don't have a Hardy Boys guide, but the information in the Nancy Drew guide will also help with determining the age of Hardy Boys books.

I hope this helps. I tried to give you extra information without going into too much detail. As it is, my response got a bit lengthy. Let me know if you need any additional information. Thanks for asking!

Of course I never received a response nor did the buyer make a purchase.  On a hunch, I checked the buyer's feedback, recent selling history, and recent buying history.  This buyer is not a seller and does not purchase books, at least on the ID used to contact me.  This person is either someone who is thinking of buying Hardy Boys books and doesn't know where to begin, or this person sells on another ID and is trying to enlighten me as to the proper way to do business, since I am just that incorrigible.

I lean towards the latter.

Around four years ago, another seller sent me an extremely long message taking me to task for using the copyright date in the title and for not using the Farah's guide "print run" number.  Let's just say that I disagree with some statements that seller has made in her listings, but I would never contact her about them.  We all need to do our own thing and quit worrying about everyone else.  

One seller on eBay touches up worn spots on books with marker, then says that the books don't have wear.  That seller also implies that library discards are not library discards and has some other shady practices.  That seller gets away with his behavior.  Instead, people worry about me.

Do you offer combined shipping discounts?

I get this question at least once a month.  I have had to offer free shipping on eBay ever since I had a buyer leave a low DSR for the shipping charge.  I realize that it seems awful to purchase three books at $9.99 each with shipping included in each price and receive no shipping discount.  However, I know how I have priced the books.  Most books that are for sale on eBay at $9.99 with free shipping would have been priced at $9.99 plus $3.95 for the first book if I had charged for shipping.  Therefore, the buyer has already saved $3.95 for the first book and $0.60 for each additional book.  I shouldn't have to discount more than that.

Sometimes I do partially add in the cost of shipping so as not to take too much of a loss.  Those items are typically the ones priced at $11.99, $17.99, $21.99, and so on.  Even on those items, I am still paying part of the shipping myself, so no further discount should be needed.

It is expensive for me when only one book is purchased, and that book is a cheap book.  I have some tweed Hardy Boys books priced at $6.99 with free shipping.  My shipping cost is $3.95, which only leaves me $3.04.  The eBay and PayPal fees get taken out of that amount.  Last, factor in what the book cost me, and I get nothing.  I always take a loss on the cheap books except when a buyer purchases several at once, thereby allowing me to send several in one package.  The combined purchases help me, not the buyer.  That's why I don't offer a discount on top of the discount that the buyer received in the first place.

As in the previous case, the buyer who asked this question did not make a purchase.

Series Book Questions Spring 2014

All questions are in my words and are not direct quotes from private messages.

Is the book really hard cover and does it have a dust jacket?

I had someone ask me this and a similar question about two different books.  I guess they don't trust sellers to tell the truth.  The first book was a paperback, and the question asked whether the book might be a hardcover instead.  No, I was telling the truth in the listing, believe it or not.  The second question was phrased more like the one above and was about a hardcover book with dust jacket.  Yes, the book really was a hardcover with dust jacket which should have been apparent from the photo provided.  As expected, this person never made a purchase.  They never do.

Do you provide tracking numbers for your items?

I do.  Here's the deal:  In some cases, all you have to do is look at a listing page to know when a seller definitely provides tracking numbers.  Right after my user ID on eBay is the "top-rated seller plus" logo.  Sellers who have that rating must provide tracking numbers for at least 90% of their transactions.  I can assure you that most any seller with that rating provides the tracking numbers for close to 100% of their transactions, not just 90%.

I want to sell my childhood Nancy Drew books.  I don't want to use eBay.  Would a library want them? 

I decided to respond as follows, since this person had already eliminated eBay as an option.

Libraries probably would not loan them out, but most libraries do take donations that they then sell at their library book sales. So that would be one possibility.

Another one is if you have any used book stores in your area. If so, they might be interested in purchasing the books.

I really wanted to suggest that she consider using eBay.  That's what I usually tell people, but around 50% of the people who contact me about what to do with their books say that they don't want to use eBay.  Oh, well.

Series Book Questions Winter 2014

What does "front flap is price-clipped" mean?

"Price-clipped" is when a past seller has cut off the price code that appears in the upper corner of the front flap of a dust jacket.  This was usually done so that the seller could charge a higher price and most likely occurred when the book was up for sale when first printed.

The above image shows two front flaps.  The one on the left has been price-clipped.  The one on the right shows the price code of 7575, which means that the book was to be sold for $0.75.

I decided to print the following question exactly as it was sent to me by the prospective buyer.

Hello, I just would like to know why don't you ship to France ? Because I precisely live in France and I m interested in buying this book ? It is not fair ! thank you for your answer.

I do ship internationally, but some scattered listings show United States only.  This is because I create new listings from old listings.  Really, it's just an oversight, although I know how annoying it must be for international buyers to have to ask.  I told the buyer this right after I got the listing changed over to international availability.  I suspected that the buyer just wanted to vent for whatever reason, and I was not at all surprised that I never heard back.  The buyer did not make a purchase. 

Writing about this reminded me of a question I received years ago from someone who was not interested in my item.  That contact taught me never to mention certain things in listings, because some people troll eBay just so that they can vent at sellers.  For a brief time years ago, I put in my listings that the books would be wrapped in plastic to protect against moisture exposure.  An environmentalist searched eBay for "plastic," found my listing, and sent me a message.  She told me that to save the planet that I should please only use secondhand plastic bags for my items rather than new plastic.

Yeah, I'm really going to take those plastic bags from Walmart that I use for my small waste baskets and begin using them for my books.  Do you know how often people use those things when mailing books to me and how often the bags feel gritty and dirty?  Yuck.  I don't know where they keep them before using them, but it isn't in a clean place.  I'm thinking of how my buyers would feel if I were to begin using grimy bags on the books.

Anyway, I now know never ever to use the word "plastic" in a listing.  When I do mention how I pack, I simply state that I protect against moisture exposure.  That way no one tries to convince me to use some other method.

Series Book Questions Fall 2013

As always, I have rewritten the questions so as not to publish direct quotes from private messages.

Is the outside of the book matte or very glossy?  I need the matte version.

The above question was asked of the book pictured on the left.  I answered with the following.

This is one of the matte picture cover books. The ones that are very glossy have a yellow band across the top of the front cover with a flashlight inside along with the volume number and logo.

The key word here is "flashlight."  If you see a flashlight at the top of the front cover, then the book is not a matte picture cover edition.  Some matte picture cover editions have a yellow band at the top of the front cover, but a flashlight is not present in the yellow band.

The book pictured on the right is one of the flashlight editions.  The flashlight is visible between "Nancy Drew Mystery Stories" and the volume number, 22, in the yellow band at the top of the front cover.  The spine shows the Nancy Drew logo near the top, and the logo is placed in the middle of the shine of a flashlight.  Once prospective buyers know where to look, a flashlight edition can be identified easily.

I have a book that is missing approximately 30 pages.  Of the pages present, approximately 30 of them are duplicated in place of the pages that are missing.  Do you know anything about this kind of error?

Errors like that do occur sometimes but not very often. I haven't ever seen any series books with pages that are duplicated, but I do have a Little Golden Book where the first half of the book is duplicated as the second half of the book. So the LGB has the right number of pages, but the second half of the story is missing. Duplicated pages usually don't increase the value, unless someone desires that particular anomaly.  Typically, any kind of error that causes some of the text to be missing greatly devalues the book.  It is interesting, nevertheless.

Is this book the first printing?  What is listed as the next Nancy Drew title on page 176?

The first printing of The Clue of the Dancing Puppet lists to The Mystery of the Fire Dragon on the back cover.  This book cannot be the first printing because the book lists to The Phantom of Pine Hill on the back cover. The Phantom of Pine Hill was published in 1965, which places this particular book in 1965. This book was printed approximately three years after the first printing from 1962. Since this book is a later printing, the next title is correctly listed as The Moonstone Castle Mystery on page 176.

What do you mean by "foxed"?

I am not certain whether the prospective buyer needed the meaning of the word or what I meant by the word.  Nevertheless, I gave the definition and explained the flaw with respect to the offered book.

"Foxed" is when a chemical reaction has occurred, causing light brown stains to occur inside old books. This book has foxing on a few scattered pages, whereas most of the book does not have foxing. I have attached a photo of two pages that are foxed.

The photo that I attached to my response is seen to the right.

Series Book Questions Summer 2013

I was asked how many chapters two different Nancy Drew books have.  The first question was for this book, which is Nancy Drew #19, The Quest of the Missing Map, with a copyright date of 1969.  I find that most buyers haphazardly try to determine whether Nancy Drew books have the original text, not aware that in most cases, the outside of the book reveals which text the book has.  This book must have the revised text, since this particular cover art was only issued on the revised text.

I have put together a page that details which text a Nancy Drew picture cover book must have based on the cover art.

Nancy Drew #1-56 Picture Cover Gallery

The same prospective buyer also asked me how many chapters this book has, which is Nancy Drew #39, The Clue of the Dancing Puppet.  Nancy Drew #35 and up were never issued with 25 chapter texts.  The books had 20 chapter texts in the first printing, so all books have the original 20 chapter text.

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Someone told me that they received books from me that they didn't order and that they didn't want.  They asked if it was a scam.  I was given no other information, and the person did not give his name.  I replied with the following:

You are going to have to give me more information.

1. Did you place an order from me?

2. If so, what did you order and when did you order it?

3. Exactly what did you receive? Please give me the titles of the books that were inside the package.

I need this information because I have no idea from your message who you are, where you are, or what you might have received.

Once I receive answers, I can help.

I received a response the next day stating that the problem had been resolved but without explaining.  This time the message was signed.  The name seemed somewhat familiar, so I believe that I did mail this person a package.  I sometimes receive orders for which the buyer has me ship the books to a different person in another state, perhaps as a gift.  I suspect that this person had received one of those packages.  If you ever buy something online for someone else as a present, you might want to let the recipient know that they will be receiving a package.

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I usually don't publish direct quotes from private messages, but I must make an exception in this case.  The title of the message was "Like your books very much."  The message read:

Dear Mr or madam
i am Effie from China，we saw your website and found your books are all interesting
we are a printing company ，specilize in printing all kinds of books，if ok，we hope to print books for u and publicize your books in China

So apparently, this person is offering to print copies of all of the books I have in my booth and then publicize them in China.  I guess the Chinese are clamoring for reprints of juvenile series books.  Seriously, the message is ridiculous.  I do not have the rights to the books I sell, so I am the last person to approach to run a scam like this one.  Most likely, if I were to contact this person, she would tell me that I need to advance her a large sum of money for the printing of the books.  I would probably have to send the money via Western Union, and then I would never hear back.

Series Book Questions Winter 2013

I have rewritten the questions in order not to quote directly from private messages.

What would be the total price including shipping for one copy of each of your Nancy Drew Applewood editions?

I get this type of question at least once or twice per year.  I strongly suspect that what the prospective buyer wishes to know is not what the question appears to ask.  These questions seldom, if ever, result in a sale. 

The buyer appears to want to know what the total would be for a number of books including shipping.  The question is strange since all the buyer needs to do is add the books to the shopping cart, which will total the cost of the books.  Upon entering a zip code, the buyer will also see the shipping charge in the shopping cart as well.  So why ask this question?

I believe that what the buyer means to ask is how good of a deal I will give them if they purchase a bunch of books.  They want a steep discount, but they don't come out and say it.  Don't play word games; say what you mean.  I am probably not going to give a steep discount or any discount beyond the 12% off coupon, but at least be open about what you really want.

One time several years ago, I couldn't help myself and politely replied that the buyer could add the prices of the books together and then add $3.95 plus $0.40 for each additional book.  This most recent time, I told the buyer about my 12% off coupon code that can be seen on all item pages.  I told the buyer that the discount would be quite nice if the coupon were applied.  I also mentioned the combined shipping of $3.95 plus $0.40 for each additional books.  Not surprisingly, I never heard back.

Do you combine shipping?  If so, how much do you charge?

I get this question at least once every couple of months.  Some buyers don't know where the information can be found, so they ask.  I have noticed that, similar to the previous question, only a small percent of these people ever make a purchase, probably around 33% of them.

I received this question around six weeks ago on eBay.  I replied that I do combine shipping and gave the amount for each additional book.  The buyer never made a purchase.  On eBay, I am not surprised when buyers ask about combined shipping.  eBay, in its quest to make it harder and harder for buyers to find information, forces buyers to click on a tab to view the combined shipping rates.

Most sellers price Nancy Drew picture cover editions way too high.  The prices are too high for books that were printed in great quantity.  I have collected boys' series books for years, and I am finding that everything is different for girls' series books.  The boys' series books sell for much lower prices, while the sellers of girls' series books practice price gouging.  Can you recommend sellers who can help me build a set of picture cover books in uniform condition at a reasonable price?

I included this question for two reasons: to answer the question and to address the issue of price gouging.

To answer the question asked, I suggested that the buyer check eBay and look for sets of books coming out of estates.  Often, those sets are in superior condition and sell for lower prices. 

I focus primarily on girls' series books, so I am not as aware of pricing of boys' books.  I have observed that Hardy Boys prices tend to be much lower than Nancy Drew prices.  If this buyer has been buying Hardy Boys picture cover books, then he would have quite a shock when trying to acquire Nancy Drew picture cover books.

The Nancy Drew picture cover editions are currently in high demand.  I have raised my prices due to the extreme demand on certain books.  I have had certain cover art variants sell consistently within 24 to 48 hours of listing the book until I began raising the prices.  Even then, those same books are hard to keep in stock and tend to sell within a few weeks.  I will not sell a book for $4 when people are willing to pay $10 to $15 for it, even if Farah's Guide says that the book is worth $4.  The book is worth $10 to $15 if that is what buyers are willing to pay.

The picture cover books are worth more than the dust-jacketed editions, in the current market.  Most Nancy Drew books in dust jacket sell for below the Farah's Guide values.  Most Nancy Drew books in picture cover editions sell for above the Farah's Guide values.  Anyone who is currently building a set of the Nancy Drew picture cover editions will have to pay a lot for certain books due to the demand.

I mentioned this topic on my Facebook page, and some good points were brought up.  One person stated that women tend to be more nostalgic than men and are more likely to purchase books for children and grandchildren.  That could be a reason why the girls' books are in higher demand. 

I wonder about crossover interest.  A number of men collect the girls' series books.  Are there as many women collecting boys' books as men collecting girls' books?  If not, then that could be why the boys' books sell for lower prices.  I collect most all girls' series books, but I only collect some boys' books.  Most boys' books are not that interesting to me.  I like the way the girls' books are written better.

Some recent auctions for Argentine editions of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were quite interesting, because the Hardy Boys books went unsold, while each Nancy Drew auction had a bidding war.  The Argentine editions are very hard to find.

Click on the image to see a larger version.  These auction results provide evidence that currently, people are more interested in girls' books than in boys' books.

Series Book Questions Fall 2012

I have rewritten the questions in order not to quote directly from private messages.

I am interested in these first printing Nancy Drew books.

Nancy Drew #34 The Hidden Window Mystery 1957A-1 DJ
Nancy Drew #35 The Haunted Showboat Tweed 1958A-1 DJ

Hidden Window is copyright 1956 but has 1957A as the number.  Haunted Showboat is copyright 1957 but has 1958A as the number.  If the first printing was a year earlier as the copyright indicates, then shouldn't the numbers be 1957B and 1958B indicating second printings?

The people who wrote the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew guides give dates that correspond to the earliest known printing of each book. Some of the books had copyrights that were registered towards the end of the year, but the books may not have actually been published until the start of the next year. In those cases, the guide writers chose the next year to date the first printing since they have no evidence that the book was printed during the same year as the copyright. The books you asked about are examples of this situation.

If you see a reference to Farah’s 12th edition in any of my listings with an accompanying code that ends in the number "1," the book is guaranteed to be the first printing, since that is the code that Farah used to denote the first printing. The final number is the printing, so "1" corresponds to the first printing.

Haunted Showboat’s first printing is 1958A-1, rather than 1957, since Farah has found no evidence that the first printing was issued before early 1958, even though the copyright is 1957. The same is true for Hidden Window in which the copyright is 1956 but the first printing is coded as 1957A-1.

So, this is a technicality on how the guide writers coded the books. We do know for sure that those books are the very first printings; we just do not know if they were actually printed in December or January of their corresponding years, which is why you see the discrepancy on the listed year.

The last flashlight edition Nancy Drew book, #64 Captive Witness, mentions The Gondolier's Secret as the next book in the series.  However, all websites mention Mystery of the Winged Lion as the next book in the series.  Why is this?  Did Carolyn Keene pass on before the book was written and other people took over writing the books?

What happened frequently with series books is that the publisher would have a title in mind and then change it later. At the time that Captive Witness went to print, the next title was called The Gondolier’s Secret. The title was changed from The Gondolier’s Secret to Mystery of the Winged Lion by the time the book went into print. Even though the next book, Mystery of the Winged Lion, had been retitled, the previous book, Captive Witness, still had the wrong title listed in the back. You’ll see that same kind of error occasionally with some of the other books.

When I answered this question, I did not address the issue of when Carolyn Keene passed on.  Carolyn Keene is a pseudonym for a group of writers.  Carolyn Keene never existed in the first place, so she never passed on.  We do not know the names of all writers who have written Nancy Drew books over the years, such as for the newest books, but we do know that Mildred Wirt Benson wrote the earliest Nancy Drew books.  Harriet Stratemeyer Adams later wrote a large number of the original 56 Nancy Drew books.  Neither woman is still living, but this has nothing to do with errors in titles printed inside books.

I am looking for Nancy Drew books #1-56 from the original series for my wife.  Do you have the entire set for sale, or do you have all of the books available individually?

I should have nearly all of them individually, except for any stray titles that may have sold recently.

If you go to this link, you will see my Nancy Drew books. You are probably looking for the picture cover books, which you will find in the following subcategories.

> PCs Blue Multi
> PCs B&W Multi I
> PCs B&W Multi II

If you want all 56 books, then it will be less expensive to purchase them together in a lot. Several sellers on eBay have complete sets. 

Note:  I provided the prospective buyer a link to one set that was currently on eBay at that time.  The buyer did not purchase any books from me, so I assume that he found what he needed on eBay.

Series Book Questions Late Summer 2012

These are questions that I have received recently.  I have rewritten the questions in my own words so as not to include direct quotes from private communication.

Which Penny Parker books were printed with the glossy frontispiece illustration?

The thick books with good quality paper and a glossy frontispiece go up to Ghost Beyond the Gate. Hoofbeats on the Turnpike and Voice from the Cave can be found in thin books which have good quality paper and a glossy frontispiece. The last five books, Guilt of the Brass Thieves up to The Cry at Midnight, can only be found in thin books with poor quality paper and a plain paper frontispiece.

I found a Beverly Gray A. L. Burt book that was paired with a Grosset and Dunlap jacket.  Do you think that the books came this way, or were they mismatched years later?  Also, I have a Beverly Gray Grosset and Dunlap book that seems to have the insides of a Burt book. 

I have an Orient Burt book that is matched with a Grosset and Dunlap jacket. I have seen and heard of other Burt books that have Grosset and Dunlap jackets. I have read that when Burt went bankrupt and sold the rights to Beverly Gray to Grosset and Dunlap, the Burt books that had already been printed were also sold to Grosset and Dunlap. Grosset and Dunlap then printed its own jackets and put on the books. This means that likely quite a few Burt books have Grosset and Dunlap jackets.

Since Grosset and Dunlap bought the Burt books and printed dust jackets for them, the Grosset and Dunlap jackets were likely paired with the Burt books from the very beginning.

I have also heard that Grosset and Dunlap often bought unbound books from other publishers from their discontinued stock. They probably also ended up with some unbound Beverly Gray books that they bound in their own binding. That would explain any Grosset and Dunlap books that look like a Burt book on the inside.

I found an Outdoor Girls book that has green boards similar to some of the Bobbsey Twins books.  It has a silhouette image of three girls on the cover.  When was this book issued?  I am trying to figure out whether it is matched with the correct dust jacket.

The Outdoor Girls books did switch to solid green boards with the silhouette you described. This happened at about the time that The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge, The Outdoor Girls in the Air, and The Outdoor Girls in Desert Valley were published. I am pretty sure that the last two titles are only available in those boards, but I am not certain about Cedar Ridge.

I have seen many of the other titles with the green boards.  Most likely, all of the other titles went through at least one printing with those boards. The jackets are a match if they list to either one of the last two books or perhaps even the one before. As long as the jackets list to a title near the end of the series, then they should be matches for the books.

Is there a way I can run a search to figure out which of your Nancy Drew books have the 25 chapter texts without having to click on every single listing?

Yes. I am pretty sure that I have a statement in every one of my original text Nancy Drew listings stating that the book has the original text, meaning the 25 chapter version. If you go to the main page of my booth,

(link removed since no longer valid)

and look right above the first line of photos of items that are for sale, you will see a search box towards the right side of the screen. Put the following in the search box:

nancy drew original text

Do not put quotations around it. Enter exactly what you see on the line above. The results page will pull up all of my Nancy Drew books that have the original text.
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You will notice from this and previous questions that I am often asked how to find the original text books.  Buyers seem to be overwhelmed trying to figure it out, and this is why they often pay high prices for the Applewood editions.

These buyers know that the original text books have 25 chapters rather than 20 chapters.  Their problem is that they have absolutely no idea how to figure out which listings online have the 25 chapters.  The buyer who asked me this most recent question was clicking on every single one of my listings trying to figure it out.  I'd get frustrated and give up if I were trying to do it that way.

Figuring out whether a Nancy Drew book has the original text is actually quite simple.  If the copyright date is anywhere from 1930 to 1956, the book has the original text with 25 chapters.  It really is that simple.

Sure, some sellers might give the wrong copyright date for a later revised book, but buyers are going to be doomed regardless when encountering one of those sellers, who are usually the ones who do not answer questions correctly.  Most sellers will give the copyright date that actually appears in the book.  So, if the copyright given by the seller is 1930 to 1956, the book has the original text.

This is why I place the original copyright date in the title of each of my listings so that buyers can see by the title that the book has the original text.  I could solve the problem by adding "original text" to the title of each listing, but that would cause the titles to be truncated for being too long.  I would rather keep my titles shorter with the series name, key title words, and copyright date.  It is my great wish that buyers who seek the original text books would figure out that the copyright date gives some very useful information. 

Series Book Questions from Summer 2012

These are questions that were asked this summer. I have rewritten the questions in order to avoid using direct quotes from private messages.

What type of covers should be purchased to protect dust jackets?  Do you recommend the 1.5 mm or the 2 mm?  Is it better to purchase ones with the center-slit backing paper or the ones that can be used for various height books?

This is a question that I am asked on a regular basis.

The 1.5 mm protectors work just fine. I have used the 2 mm, but I find that I prefer the way the 1.5 mm work. It’s hard to explain, but the 2 mm tends to be a little more rigid and not fold as well, which makes the jacket not rest right up against the book. They do provide better protection if a book and jacket are to be used heavily, but for a collection, the 1.5 mm is quite sufficient.

Demco Paperfold Book Jacket Covers

I like the ones from Demco because they are folded at the bottom instead of the center-slit. The ones with the center slit end up being a little bumpy in places, whereas the ones from Demco never do that.

I dislike the protectors offered by Gaylord since they stick to each other on the shelf. If you have several books in Gaylord protectors and try to remove one from the shelf, the rest come with it.

I use the 8-inch Demco covers for the Grosset and Dunlap dust jackets and the 9-inch Demco covers for taller books. The 9-inch covers work well for both sizes of books, since they can be easily adjusted down.

Do you sell copies of dust jackets?  I am not willing to pay high prices to get certain books with original jackets.

This is another question that I get asked fairly often, mainly because I usually have at least one book for sale with a copied dust jacket.  I do not sell copies of dust jackets, even though I sometimes print one for scarce books that would be easier to sell with a printed dust jacket.

Jim Towey has offered copies of dust jackets for years.  Visit his page about recreated dust jackets for more information.

What do you think of the Outdoor Girls series?  Are the books worth reading?  Do the books have four glossy illustrations or just a glossy frontispiece?

The Outdoor Girls series is one of my most favorite series of all of the ones that came before Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. The earlier series from the 1910s and 1920s are much more old fashioned and a bit different from the series that came later, but this one is one of the best.

You can visit Project Gutenberg and sample some of the texts to get a feel for whether you would like the series.

Outdoor Girls Books on Project Gutenberg

The books all have a glossy frontispiece. The books have additional internal illustrations, but all of the internals are on plain paper just like the regular text pages. The series books that began in the 1910s tended to have the additional illustrations on plain paper rather than on glossy paper.

Why are some of your Nancy Drew books described as blue or tweed and others not?  What is the difference?

The books that are called "tweed" have a cover that resembles tweed fabric. They are textured and are similar to cloth, although the covers are not made from cloth. The tweed books were in print from 1952 through 1961.

Nancy Drew books printed before 1952 are generally known as blue books. I have both the blue and the tweed books placed in the same subcategory in my booth.

This formats page should help you understand the different variations and will help you tell how old a book is.

Nancy Drew Formats

Also, you can more specifically tell how old a book is by getting the last title listed inside the book. The last title listed will tell you which year the book was printed.

I am looking for inexpensive reading copies of the original text Nancy Drew books.  What do you have available?  I can tell that the Applewood books have the original text but am not sure about the picture cover books.

The following statements concern Nancy Drew #1-34.

Each of my listings that has an original text book has a statement in the item description that the book has the original text. To make it easier, I often give the original copyright date in the title of my listings. If the copyright date is anywhere from 1930 to 1956, the book must have the original 25 chapter text. If you click on a listing, you can verify that the book has the original text by noting a copyright date between 1930 and 1956 and noting my statement that the book has the original text.

To find the books that have the original text, go to the main page of my booth, then click on the Nancy Drew category that appears on the left in the middle of the list of categories. On the resulting page, you will see additional subcategories. You will find many of the original text books that are priced reasonably in the "> Blue Books" and the "> PCs Blue Multi" subcategories.

In the "> Blue Books" category, all books have the original text. In the "> PCs Blue Multi" category, #1, 2, 3, and 4 are the only books that do NOT have the original text.* All other books in that category have the original text.

Most of the Nancy Drew books with dust jackets also have the original text, but those are generally priced a little higher. If you do look at the books with jackets, remember that the books copyrighted from 1930 to 1956 are the ones with the original text and that I have a statement in the item description stating that those books have the original text.

Note: #35 and up only had one text and were never revised, so all of those books have the original text by default, since it is the only version that ever existed.

*In my answer to the prospective buyer, I did not mention that I might sometimes have a few books in the "> Blue Books" category that do not have the original text, such as late tweed copies of #1-4 and #6.  I also did not mention that if I had an example of #6 listed in the "> PCs Blue Multi" category that it would also not have the original text.  I kept my answer limited to the books that were available in those categories on the day I answered the question so as not to further confuse the prospective buyer. 

My wife likes Nancy Drew books, but I know nothing about them.  I think I would like to purchase the 20 chapter picture cover versions of #1-56.  How should I go about doing that?  I also do not understand what is meant by "Jennifer's Series Books."

“Jennifer’s Series Books” is the name that I put on my booth. My name is Jennifer White, and I am the one selling the books that are listed in this booth.

If you decide to buy any books from me, you would first click on "Nancy Drew" which appears along the left side of my booth in the list of categories. On the resulting page, you will see a new list of categories on the left side. The books you mentioned will be found under "> PCs Blue Multi," "> PCs B&W Multi I," and "> PCs B&W Multi II." The category which mentions "Blue Multi" has more of the original text books. The other two categories have the 20 chapter revised text books. The titles of the three categories make reference to the type of endpapers inside each book.

Most Nancy Drew fans do like the original text books, so your wife probably would not mind getting some original text books. The original text books are available for #1-34, and you can also get #1-34 in the revised 20 chapter text versions. #35-56 are only available as 20 chapter texts.

If you do not mind using eBay, there are almost always bulk lots of Nancy Drew books up for sale there.* Sometimes you can find a bulk lot at a great savings per book over buying the books individually.

*I have found, especially in recent months, that many people now refuse to use eBay for any reason.  I finally have realized that instead of assuming that people are willing to use eBay that I should mention that if they do not mind using eBay that eBay is an option.

Series Book Questions from Spring 2012

These are questions that were asked in recent months. I have rewritten the questions in order to avoid using any direct quotes from private messages.

How scarce and desirable are the Wanderer books #59 Old Lace, #74 Mysterious Image, and #76 Eskimo's Secret in hardcover with dust jacket?

The Wanderer books with dust jackets are very desirable, even if they are library discards. The lower-numbered titles such as #59-60 are desirable but not extremely difficult to find. The final Wanderer hardcover books are much more scarce. #76 Eskimo's Secret with dust jacket is quite scarce.

How scarce are certain Penny Parker books, such as Whispering Walls, as compared to other books in the series?

The final Penny Parker books, Whispering Walls, Swamp Island, and Cry at Midnight, are the hardest ones to find. Swamp Island and Cry at Midnight are the most scarce. The books are even more scarce if the original dust jackets are present.

Were any of the Dana Girls books ever published with 25 chapters and then later with 20 chapter revised texts? For instance, #19 Winking Ruby from 1957 has 20 chapters. Was there ever a 25 chapter version?

#1-18 in the original run are the only books that ever had 25 chapters. #17 was revised down to 20 chapters for the white spine picture cover edition, so #17 is the only book that exists with a 20 chapter text and a 25 chapter text. #1-16 and #18 went out of print at the time of the white spine version, so those books were never revised. #19 and up only have the 20 chapter text in all printings and never had 25 chapter texts.

Did any of the 1934 Dana Girls dust jackets ever come with the ads on the reverse side of the jackets?

I own Lone Tree Cottage with a dust jacket that has the reverse ads. I do not have the other two. Since all three books were published simultaneously, all three should have the reverse ads on the very first printing. The reverse ad printings are extremely hard to find.

A flashlight edition Nancy Drew book was found that has sharp squared edges on the spine instead of slightly rounded edges. Does this have any significance?

It probably has to do with which year it was printed. You will find variances in the books as they go through different print runs.

Something else to watch for with the flashlight editions is for the books that have a textured cover instead of the very smooth cover. The ones with a textured cover look nicer than the usual flashlight books, but very few of the books have the textured cover. It was probably only one print run from around five or six years ago, so just a small number of books are like that.

How are the later Nancy Drew books different from the original ones? Did Nancy Drew become more modern? If someone were compiling a list of books to collect, where would the list end?

The Nancy Drew books were revised beginning in 1959 primarily for two reasons: to renew the copyrights and to reduce costs. The popular reason always given by the copyright owners was that the books were revised to remove the racial stereotyping, but this is not the real reason. Some books were not revised and kept the stereotypes (#35 is an example). By reducing the length of the texts, costs were reduced. By rewriting the texts, the copyrights were renewed, thus keeping the books out of the public domain.

Some books in #1-34 were completely rewritten from start to finish, and the stories are not at all the same. The titles that were completely rewritten are #5, 11, 12, 14, 17, and 18. The remaining titles were condensed down from 25 chapters to 20 chapters. For those titles, the original text books are generally better. The revised text versions tend to be a bit choppy.

People who read Nancy Drew books prior to around 1960 generally only collect #1-34 in the original text. People like me who read Nancy Drew during the 1970s or later collect all of #1-56 and both versions of #1-34. I also collect all of the softcover titles from #57-174 as well as the Nancy Drew Files series.

My suggestion is to try a sample book from the original text stories along with a revised text version plus one from around #40-50 to see what you think. If you decide to begin building a set, you will know how far to take it.

What does "PC" mean in the title of your listing?

"PC" stands for picture cover. This refers to series books that have the picture printed directly on the front cover rather than on a dust jacket.

The book seen on the left is an example of a picture cover.

Penny Parker, Connie Blair, and Kay Tracey Questions

I periodically receive questions about series books. Here I will give my answers to some of those questions.

One collector was trying to find the Penny Parker titles in thick books with good quality paper. She wanted to know how many of the books were printed in that format. This is my answer.

I have #10 Ghost Beyond the Gate in a thick book with good quality paper. The binding is yellow.

Some thin books have good quality paper. I have #9 Saboteurs on the River in a thin blue book with good quality paper. #9 would also have to exist in a thick book even though I don’t have one.

I have #11 Hoofbeats on the Turnpike and #12 Voice from the Cave in thin red books with good quality paper. Both jackets list to Voice from the Cave.

I notice that the titles on the jacket spines for #11 and 12 are sized to fit on thin books, so it looks like #10 is the last book that is thick.

So up through #10 exist in thick books with good paper and up to #12 in thin books with good paper, although the good paper books would be very hard to find. I am pretty sure that #13-17 only exist with pulp paper.

Another collector wanted to make sure that some Connie Blair picture cover editions have the original text. Additionally, she wanted to know which Kay Tracey books have the original text. I answered as follows.

I have never heard of any revisions to the Connie Blair books, so I’m pretty confident that the picture cover books have the identical text as the older printings. Additionally, there are Tempo paperback versions of all 12 titles from the 1960s. While those books were re-typeset for the softcover version, I believe that they also contain the original texts with no changes.

15 Kay Tracey titles were reprinted by Books Inc. and Garden City during the 1950s and 1960s. Red Scarf, Green Cameo, and Strange Echo were significantly revised. The remaining 12 books are either identical or nearly identical to the original versions with just a few scattered changes perhaps at just the beginning or end of each book. The revisions are insignificant for those titles.

Three Kay Tracey books, Swaying Curtains, Shadow on the Door, and Forbidden Tower, are only available in the original Cupples and Leon yellow books.

Clues to Collecting #7

Question: Regarding the $1 boxes, are the books you have listed in your poll the only ones that were printed with it? I've been wondering about that. Also, were all of the books that were printed with the $1 box, also printed with the blackened box (I'm assuming indicating their second printing)?

Answer: Just #1-6, 37, and 38 were printed with the $1 boxes. All of those books also were printed with the blackened box, which is the second picture cover printing. ...................................

Question: I have gone through your main web site looking for information on a 1970 reprint by Grosset and Dunlap in which the Nancy Drew books were combined in pairs and printed with a grey pictorial cover. Each copy has two of the original Nancy Drew books in it. I have been all over the Internet and finally I found some of them on Abe's books, but they don't provide any information. Are these a rare printing or unusual? Is that why I can't find them mentioned with all the other printings of Nancy Drew? I have 19 of these books. Would there have been more in the collection?

Answer: Those books are known as the "twin thriller" editions. They are a book club edition from the 1970s. I don't have a page on them, but here is one from another site:

Twin Thriller Editions

 There are 27 books in the set of the smaller sized ones. There is a smaller set of 8 books in which the books are slightly taller and thicker.

 The books are harder to find than the regular editions, but they are not that scarce. ................................... Question: Speaking of your booth, when I've receive PC books from you, I've noticed they always have a nice sheen on the covers that really adds to their beauty. Do you use something special to clean them? The matte covers can get dull, and I've tried gently cleaning them various ways, but I don't ever get that nice sheen. Is there a secret to this or are they just better books?

Answer: I do not clean books before I sell them. A small number of the books that I have sold had price stickers that I removed with lighter fluid, but I have done nothing to the vast majority of them. To answer in short, the books are in better condition.

Now, I will give the long answer. I have noticed that some of the print runs are shinier than others, so some of the matte Nancy Drew books are "dull matte" while others are "glossy matte."

The books that were not shiny when first printed tend to get dirty easily while the books that have a shinier finish repel the dirt better. Some of the early 1960s Nancy Drew picture covers are very shiny while most of them are just a little shiny. Some of the 1970s PCs are very dull while others are shiny to varying degrees.

Some people say that they clean their picture covers with Windex, but I would never use liquid on one of the dull matte books. I find that liquid of any type gets absorbed very easily by those books and causes some removal of the color on the cover.

The only safe liquid to use on paper or dull matte books is lighter fluid, but it can even stain paper in isolated instances. Some people say that Goo Gone works on PCs, but I find that Goo Gone is kind of greasy and leaves a residue unless the surface is shiny. I never use it on books.

Sometimes dull matte books can be partially cleaned by using a soft eraser, like the kind that artists use. Soft erasers crumble easily and do not wear away at paper as much as regular erasers, like the ones on pencils. Sometimes PCs can be buffed and made shinier by rubbing with a soft cloth, so this can be tried to see if it helps.

Clues to Collecting #6

Question: Since this post was about some differences that occur in Nancy Drew PC's, I thought this would be a good place to ask my question. I've noticed that many 1962 first printings of the ND PC books seem to have good quality covers that are shinier than later matte covers and stay cleaner. Also, the colors are very intense. These books are really beautiful!

However, I do have some first printing PC's from 1962 that are VERY dull and dark looking. Even though they are in excellent condition as far as wear and tear goes, and they appear to be clean, the cover is not as smooth as the shinier ones, it has a rough feel to it, it is dull, and kind of foxed (I guess) throughout, so that all the colors appear darker and subdued. There usually are some brown spots but not many, just a general "browning" on these covers. The inside pages are fine. The color difference on the spine is amazing. The shinier covers are still bright yellow, while the dull covers are yellowish-brown. They aren't faded from being exposed to too much sunlight, they are "browned".

Is there any explanation for the difference since they are all first printings from 1962? I have two Ringmaster's Secret books, and they both have the same dull covers.

Answer: I know that different materials were used for some of the printings from the early 1960s. As far as I know, the same bindery in Kingsport, Tennessee was used for all of the 1960s Nancy Drew books. They must have had different suppliers for the boards, etc., and some of the suppliers had poor quality materials.

The $1 box edition PCs tend to have the bad materials. They tend to have really heavy wear and discoloration because the materials used were shoddy.

The book club edition PCs (the ones that have the blank yellow back covers and are stated book club editions on the title pages) are almost always found in horrible shape. I don't even like the book club edition PCs very much because of how horrible they usually look. They tend to be foxed, have stains all over the covers, and have heavy wear to the edges of the boards.

I don't have a definite answer, but different materials were used to build the books, and certain printings are the ones that got the materials that were of poor quality. ...................................

Question: Have you ever seen a Nancy Drew picture cover book with red ink on the top of the pages instead of blue? In a lot that I bought recently, I received a copy of Bungalow (latest cover art) like this. It lists to Cookbook and Double Jinx on the back, so it must be a 70's printing. No internal lists. This was a first for me and I haven't been able to find any reference to this abnormality anywhere. I wonder if it's "RARE"? ;)

Answer: I think it is just volumes 1, 2, and 3 that had the red ink on the top page edges for perhaps one printing in the 1970s. There are some special boxed sets from the 1970s that have a purple Halloween-type design one them, and I think the books came from those boxed sets. Here are some pictures from the Nancy Drew Sleuth website:

Boxed Set

Another Boxed Set

I own a copy of the second boxed set, and the books have the red ink on the top page edges. This is why I think the books with the red ink originally came from these boxed sets. I have once or twice found one of the books mixed in with regular editions like you did.

Since the books probably had just one printing, they are definitely scarce. People do collect them. I don't think the books alone are worth much more than an ordinary copy, unless they are still with the original boxed set. The boxed sets have sometimes sold for $50 or more each. It is possible to get a bargain for one of the boxed sets by searching carefully.

Now if you were going to sell them on eBay, you would say that they are "extremely, unbelievably RARE" and "never before seen by anyone." ;)

Clues to Collecting #5

Question: Because of a surgery recovery (needed lots of easy reading to fill lots of extra time!), I started to re-read titles in both series... and when I began going thru some of the Danas, I discovered that unlike with ND (for which I enjoy BOTH the early 25-chapter versions & the later 20-chapters, both are fun for diff. reasons) with the Dana stories, I'm finding I really don't enjoy the later 20-chapter stories very much. But I adore those older Dana books... there's just something about the earlier style and the types of stories... (perhaps I just prefer M.Wirt Benson's style.)

 Anyway, what I'm trying to figure out is if any of the #1-13 (or 1-24) DGs were revised from 25 chapters down to the shorter 20 chapters, like NDs were. Sure, like you said in this blog posting, it's easy to understand which NDs are 20-chapter versions (I grasped this fully by reading your webpages and also, the NDsleuth pages). But I'm not seeing the same info about DGs; so it's making me wonder if perhaps they never did "revise and shorten" the DGs? Did those early stories stay the same throughout the first two printing runs?

I think the reason I'm confused is this: my copy of Winking Ruby has only 20 chapters, but it's #19, written in 1957. My copy of #17 Ghost in Gallery has 25 chapters, but it lists to Bamboo Bird. Do you know when they started revising and shortening the DGs? Did they just start doing that with one of the titles (like, with Winking Ruby?), and then NOT go back and revise the earlier #'s? If this is the case, I just won't bother filling-in my collection with anything past #19.

Thanks again so much, your series book knowledge is amazing and so helpful! :D :D

Answer: Dana Girls #1-16 were never revised down from 25 chapters, so each book only has the original text in all printings. These sixteen books all still had the original text in the beige spine picture cover format, and all of them went out of print and never made it to the white spine format, which is where some revisions occurred.

#18 and up only had 20 chapters in the first place, so those titles were not revised, except a couple of titles that made it to the white spine picture cover version had very slight revisions like just a sentence or paragraph in the beginning of the book. The order of the titles changed in the white spine format, and this caused them to have to correct minor inconsistencies like when the Danas returned from various travels.

#17 is the only volume that was revised down from 25 chapters to 20 chapters. The revised version appears in the white spine format.

You don't have to worry about making sure you have the original text for #1-16 in the original set, since all of those books have the original text. The higher-numbered titles with the 20 chapters are generally not as good as the lower-numbered titles, just like in the Nancy Drew series. Lettie Briggs and Ina Mason disappeared from the Dana Girls series in the later books. Not only that, the Danas travel all the time and hardly ever attend school in those books. The series is quite different in the later titles.

Clues to Collecting #4

Question: I've been collecting series books in a kind of haphazard way for a few years (mostly just reading copies of series I like), so I don't often bother looking for dust jackets. however, I have a fairly nice dust jacket of a Marjorie Dean book, but a wedge has torn away from the top of the dj spine. assuming I get a protective cover for it, how would you go about reattaching a broken piece of dj? or would you give it up as lost? I'm just assuming that tape is the collector's enemy... thanks, and love the blog!

Answer: I only throw away a piece of a dust jacket when the piece is tiny, such as less than around an 1/8 inch square piece.

In most cases, detached pieces can be placed in the mylar cover so that they will stay in place once the cover is folded shut and placed on the book.

Companies such as Demco do sell archival tape, which is expensive. Some collectors frown upon the use of any type of tape, including archival tape. I have used archival tape for serious problems, such as when a page from the book is ripped into two pieces. ................................

Question: Where do you buy archival tape? Would you recommend that for repairing book spines?

Answer: Demco has archival tape:

Filmoplast Mending Tape

It is expensive, but I have been using the same roll for around 9 years. It lasts a long time.

I only use it on the reverse side of dust jackets and usually for very serious problems. I don't think it could be used to repair the spines of books.

I have never bought archival products for book repair, but Demco has several products that could work for binding and other types of repairs:

Demco NeutralBond Modified Vinyl Adhesive

Systematic Archival Glue Pen ................................

Question: Wondering... I found your site thru a librarian -- no Sue Barton? I collect her, wondering why she is excluded? 

Answer: My site represents what I have collected and read to the present time. Right now, I do not own any Sue Barton books.

My primary current interest is in Stratemeyer Syndicate series books that were published prior to 1930. I may eventually get around to Sue Barton. What I buy and collect is constantly evolving.

While my site is intended as a reference site, it is beyond my capability to cover every series ever published. There are hundreds of them. All that I can do is cover the ones that I have collected and read. Go to these two sites to see what I mean:

Girls Series Checklist

Mary Crosson's List

Clues to Collecting #3

Question: I realized that my copy of "the Hidden Window Mystery" #34 was bound upside down! I was wondering if this makes it "rare" or "scarce" or is it worth less since it is goofed up?

Answer: Binding errors usually make books less valuable. Most people prefer for their books to be bound correctly. Some collectors do seek out variations, so there is a small amount of interest. Most binding errors that I see on eBay either fail to sell or sell at the opening bid. There is usually not a lot of interest. ..................................

Question: Regarding value, have you found a greater value in re-sale for unused library bindings, or do they still seem to bring low prices?

Also, regarding another post I can't find now, which mentioned the '70's double edition ND's and their relative low value (not RARE as a seller had claimed), have you found collectors looking for the harder-to-fine tall versions of these double editions, or do both tall and short seem to command low prices? I came across 5 of the tall ones yesterday, and picked them up since they were only $1.50/ea. But not sure if they're really collectible.

Answer: The lavender Grosset and Dunlap library bindings definitely command a higher price when they are not library discards. I find that the lavender G&D library editions are the one type of library binding that many collectors desire, but they only want them when the books are not library discards.

For all other library bindings, I don't find that whether the books are library discards makes much of a difference. Most people have no interest in the vast majority of library bindings.

The tall double edition books tend to be worth more than the short ones. The tall ones are harder to find, and they seem to be made better. I like them better, so I feel like they are worth more than the short ones. They are definitely collectible. ..................................

Question: Regarding the $1 box PC's - are they always worth picking up if you find them in decent but not neccesarily fine condition? Thanks!

Answer: As to whether $1 box editions are always worth picking up, it depends upon how rough the condition is. The $1 box editions tend to always be a little rough. Some people have stated that the materials used on them were inferior to what were used on other picture covers.

I have noticed that both the $1 box editions and the book club edition picture covers seem to always look a little bad. If you can get a $1 box edition with moderate wear for just a few dollars, it is worth getting.

Clues to Collecting #2

Question: Slightly off topic of the blog, but on the topic of Beverly Gray, I just received today what appears to be a 1st (or at least very early) edition of #21: Secret. In the back, it lists the next volume as being Beverly Gray's Masquerade. Obviously the name ended up being changed when the next volume was published. I didn't see this listed on your Beverly Gray page, so I didn't know if you might want to mention it. I'm wondering if all the copies of Secret continued to list the wrong title, or if it was corrected later on.

Answer: I don't know if the draft title was corrected for later printings, since I just have what is also probably the first printing. Sometimes the draft titles remained uncorrected for many printings, such as in the Nancy Drew series. I would say that since #21 was so close to the end of the series, the draft title was likely never corrected and is probably present in all of the original Grosset and Dunlap tweed printings. Grosset and Dunlap was usually quite slow to correct mistakes like that, and sometimes never bothered to correct them. ....................................

Question: I have a question...my daughter owns a recent Nancy Drew paperback (The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery #110 - Aladdin) which has a printing error on the spine. Instead of listing "The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery" over Carolyn Keene's name, it says "BOOK TITLE". Is this worth holding on to, or are there millions of them out there with this error?

Answer: The first Aladdin reprint had the error on the spine and then the error was corrected for later printings. It is not rare but may be scarce. It will probably not ever have any great value since there are probably quite a few of them, although it is of interest to collectors who want everything. ....................................

Question: I have a question on the topic of gleaning information from the spines of ND books. There is an auction on eBay right now Item # 330307377666 that shows 7 tweed books with white spine dust jackets. Two of these look unusual to me in that they have light blue lettering, as well as the typical light blue silhouette, on the spine. Does this indicate anything about the books? I thought the lettering was always black.

Answer: The Whispering Statue and The Clue in the Jewel Box are the only two Nancy Drew books that have blue print on the spines instead of the usual black. I believe all printings in dust jacket for those two books have the blue print. None of the other books have the blue print, so it doesn't mean anything as far as determining anything about the books. It is just one of Grosset and Dunlap's random inconsistencies which cannot be explained. ....................................

Question: I was searching your blog for some other information, and came across this post which reminded me of a book I have. It's "Nancy's Mysterious Letter", an original text PC, which lists to Fire Dragon on the back. The odd thing is that it lists to Clue of the Velvet Mask and Dana Girls Jade Ring inside, both first published in 1953. Quite a difference! Is this a normal 1st (or later) PC printing of this book according to Farah's? Or do I have my own bizarre anomaly? This is why I am intrigued by collecting ND books! Thanks!

Answer: The 1950s and early 1960s printing history of Mysterious Letter is really odd - there are lots of mistakes and anomalies. All copies of Mysterious Letter printed from 1953 through 1962 have the same list of titles inside the book: Nancy Drew #1-30 and Dana Girls #1-15.

The last two printings with that list of titles inside the book are the first two picture cover printings. The first picture cover printing lists to Fire Dragon on the back cover, so you do have the first picture cover.

During the 1950s, several printings of Mysterious Letter have "The" in front of the title on the front cover, which is obviously an error. Some sellers like to say this error is RARE because it was caught quickly, but the error is an anomaly that occurs in five printings from 1952 through 1957, so it was NOT caught quickly.

Then there is also the oddity of the many hole-punched dust jackets from 1950 that list to Wooden Lady that have inexplicably shown up on mid-1950s books which of course have the odd list of titles, ND #1-30 and DG #1-15 inside the book. Enough of the hole-punched jackets have shown up on the mid-1950s books that I am confident that a stack of them was found in the mid-1950s and placed on books. I have personally had at least three of the mismatched hole-punched jackets on tweed books pass through my hands and know of multiple other examples that exist.

Clues to Collecting #1

I begin this feature by posting old questions and answers that appear in the comments sections of many old posts. Unless you have subscribed to the comments to this blog, you probably miss many of the good questions that I have received over the last couple of years. I have selected the really good questions to highlight here. .......................

Question: How can you tell when the sellers are reproducing the dust jackets? Obviously, I want the best condition dust jacket I can afford but I've noticed on ebay there are some books with damage where the dust jacket should have protected it and the dust jacket looks clean in that same area. That makes me suspicious, but I'm wondering how you make the determination. I hate to think of being ripped off like this.

Answer: You can almost always tell in person whether a dust jacket is a reproduction. Most copies are either in two pieces or are cut off at the back flap. This is because the dust jackets are longer than legal-sized paper. Additionally, reproduction dust jackets are often pixelated, so the clarity of the image is reduced. Last, many copies are on plain paper, which is another way to distinguish the copies.

Online, buyers must depend on the seller's honesty or level of knowledge in order to be sure that copy dust jackets are not purchased. I do find that most of the copy dust jackets are labeled as such in the listings, but sometimes this information does not jump out at the buyer. Always read all descriptions carefully.

There are plenty of legitimate reasons why a book and dust jacket would not have the same wear. I have heard of people removing the dust jacket while reading the book, so the book could get damaged while the dust jacket is safe.

Some people remove the dust jackets from all of their books and store them. By doing this, ultimately the books are sold or destroyed while the dust jackets are safe. In the past, I have bought several lots of near perfect dust jackets from 70+ years ago. I was able to swap out the dust jackets with ones from my books, thus upgrading my dust jackets. In those cases, the books have wear that the jackets do not have.

Libraries have been known to store dust jackets instead of keeping them on the books. I once bought a large lot of beautiful old dust jackets that came from a library.