Enid Blyton Books

Enid Blyton books are often sought after by people who read her works during their childhood, and had an impression made upon them by the

qualities and charm of her writings. I read a great many of her books as a child, and continued to read and re-read her books thereafter, and still

to the present. It is a joy to find works that I haven't encountered before on sites such as Ebay, and indeed, I treasure being able to deliver

these wonderful books to those seeking their copy, as I enjoy collecting the titles of my collection. Below are some tips that I hope will help

people who are looking to add to, or to begin a collection.

Be careful of replica dustwrappers. Although most sellers are honest, and state when the wrapper is a copy (LC stands for Laser Copy), some

sellers are not so honest. It is tempting when seeing an Enid Blyton first edition for sale at a seemingly fair price with a Buy-It-Now, to click

B.I.N. it now in case you are beaten to it by someone else!; but don't just rely on the gallery photo! - read the listing properly to make Your Self

aware of any faults that are not mentioned prominently...

Be aware what a First Edition is. Many sellers incorrectly state that they are selling Second, Third or fourth editions (etc), but what they are

actually selling in a lot of cases, are impressions of the First Edition. A First Edition is the first state of text formatting in the first print-runs until

the text state (or illustrations) is changed; so you could have a First Edition Seventh Impression (seventh printing of the book) and it would still

be a First Edition. What collectors seek is the First Edition First Impression, also commonly known as a True First Edition.

The Famous Five books are one of the most sought after series written by Enid Blyton. Many collectors are unaware that in 1942 when the first

ever Famous Five book was published, there were three separate impressions of the book! It was first released in August 1942 (later

impressions often incorrectly state September 1942 as the First Impression date); then it was again printed in September 1942, and then the

Third Impression was October 1942; so be careful!, as a First Edition, First Impression book in a 1942 wrapper may well be in a wrapper of a later

1942 impression. You can tell of these cases by the inner front flap of the wrapper measuring a slightly different width, although I cannot

remember the exact figure off-hand I think the correct wrapper measures 9 cms inner flap, and the incorrect measures 8 cms.

Another little tip is that 'Five Get Into a Fix' was published in magazine form over almost two years, so the First Edition states 1957 and 1958

and so many people often think it is not a true-first; well it is!

White-spine dustwrappers were the norm from 1942 through to 1950 on the Famous Five books. In 1950 the wrappers were replaced with

coloured spines, so when a seller states 'white spine dustwrapper' they are reffering to the earlier spines - which are rather more collectable!

Condition is all important when collecting books. Be aware that it is the norm for the earlier blue cloth covers to suffer from whitey brown

'spotting', so if you see a good gap-filler then go for it! - don't wait around for a spotting-free blue cloth cover because they are rather scarce.

I will come back and on occasion edit this page, adding to it as needs be. I wish you well as You share the joy and fun of searching out and

reading these lovely books. What Ho!