Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

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Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by pete9012S »

I have never seen this box set before,have you??

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Famous Five (Box Set) by Enid Blyton, Knight, paperback, Unknown Publishing Date


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Famous-Five-B ... 487513ba9c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's one I think Katharine was after?

The Twelfth Holiday Book by Enid Blyton, Sampson Low, hardcover,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Twelfth-H ... 487325d6ae" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I haven't seen that Famous Five box set before either, Pete, but I like the design on the box.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Courtenay »

Yes, I wonder who did the illustration on the box? It doesn't look like Betty Maxey, whose illustrations were in most of the Knight editions.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by walter raleigh »

It reminded me of the illustrations from the covers of the two 1974 omnibuses (which according to the cave are by Carolyn Dinan), but I've just had a look and now I'm not so sure. The covers in the cave are more cartoony, while the box-set picture is quite detailed. Well, hopefully we'll find out in due course!
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Tony Summerfield »

This is an interesting pic as I am sure it wasn't by Betty Maxey. Frustratingly we can only see the tip of Timmy's tail, so I guess he is pictured on the spine of the box. It obviously doesn't contain the original contents as the nearest book is Well Done Secret Seven! I think it would date to the first half of the 1970s, as late 70s editions had the ISBN number on the spine of the books.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Courtenay »

Thanks for the enlargement, Tony. I think it's quite a nice portrayal (despite the 1970s clothes) - reminds me a little of the recent Shirley Hughes FF cover. The only odd thing I can see about it is that Anne's face in this picture looks too "old" for her, almost like a young adult's head on a child's body - she looks several years older than George!

I wonder which books were originally in the box, and what the author's portrayal of Timmy looked like? Maybe that (and the artist's name) will come to light some time.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by walter raleigh »

Yes thanks for posting the larger view Tony. Well done for spotting the 'Secret Seven' interloper too, which i'd missed with my cursory glance over it. It does make me wonder when the box dates from though. Clearly the three "Famous Five" books date from the early seventies as you rightly say, but there are at least two different impressions (cf. the numbered circle on "Secret Trail") and they're non-consecutive stories to boot (15,18 and 20), so I doubt whether any of the books originally came in the box to be honest.

The box does seem to be contemporary with the 'Green Knight' paperbacks though, because as Courtenay points out the fashions are very 1970's, and it also probably predates the 1st TV series as Anne isn't wearing her iconic alice band. The picture of Timmy that appears to be on the spine might have possibly helped us pinpoint the date too, so you're right about it being frustrating that we only see a bit of his tail.

So it probably did contain some of the early paperbacks but heaven knows which ones. My guess is somebody (not necessarily the e-bay seller) has replaced the originals with the current contents, either out of ignorance or (less charitably), with intent to decieve. Hopefully more will become clear in due course.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I agree with you here, Walter, that possibly none of these books were originally in the box, but you can't go by consecutive numbers to prove this. I have a boxed set of five with the TV covers from the late 70s and it definitely has its original contents as it is in mint condition. The books are nos, 5, 8, 12, 14 and 21! Apart from the spine which has small round photos of the Five faces, there is no picture at all, just a large red five on a blue background.
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by walter raleigh »

Okay, thanks for that Tony. It does seem a little strange though. You'd think they would be consecutive, or at least have some sort of discernible pattern. Those seem just completely random choices. Is there an earlier box set or two that contains some of the more obvious candidates?
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by walter raleigh »

There's another box set here from late 1970's I'd guess going by the TV series artwork. I do notice that the 5 books are consecutive though. :roll:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-FAMOUS-FI ... 20f03a092b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Courtenay »

"Wears and tears to slipcase"?? Slipcase falling apart, more like!! :roll:
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Fiona1986 »

walter raleigh wrote:I do notice that the 5 books are consecutive though.
Or they would be if they'd been put in the box in the right order! Ugh, why do people do things like that?
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Re: Famous Five (Box Set)&12th Holiday Book

Post by Courtenay »

If you read from right to left, they are almost in the right order. :wink: But it looks like whoever owned the set hasn't treated it too well in general.
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