Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

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Rob Houghton
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Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Rob Houghton »

This was just on the Midlands news - a woman opened a £1 copy of Silas Marner and found a letter from Enid Blyton!

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/777150 ... las-marner

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'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Eddie Muir »

What a great find! I've bought a number of books from the Hay Cinema Bookshop over the years, but I've never found anything of note. Jacqueline Ralph is indeed very lucky. :D
Last edited by Eddie Muir on 09 Mar 2017, 20:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by John Pickup »

That's a super find. I've never discovered anything worth mentioning in a second hand book either.
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Wow what a find. Lucky lady, so glad the book didn't go to landfill.

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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Courtenay »

Oh wow, that's incredible! :D
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Daisy »

I have just posted about it on "Blyton on TV" .. sorry about the duplication. I was thinking that "Mary" had been inserted later but the reproduction in Rob's post seems to show a damp discolouration which may have caused the ink to change colour slightly - so it may all have been written at the same time, when I had surmised that it might not!
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Courtenay »

Mmmm, dunno. "Green Hedges" and most of the first complete sentence are also within that area that's apparently been damp, and their colour hasn't changed. "Mary" does appear to have been written in lighter blue ink, or at least ink that was slightly different from the rest and has faded faster. I'd think there is a distinct possibility that the name was written in later than the rest, after the prize winner had been announced. But it's still undoubtedly a genuine letter in Enid's handwriting. What a find!

(I've just been thinking, that book title is not one I know and not something I would ever have picked up in a second hand bookshop... maybe I should start looking through more old books that I don't think I'm interested in. :wink: )
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

A lucky find! I like Silas Marner and I'd have been overjoyed if I'd inadvertently bought a copy containing a letter from Enid Blyton!
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I have only just seen this and I was puzzled when someone from the BBC website approached me this morning and I'm afraid I replied that I knew nothing about it! If I had seen this I would have immediately said that it is just printed and the only handwritten thing was the name 'Mary' and that was not written by Enid Blyton - just look at the 'y'!
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Courtenay »

Good point — I didn't notice the "y", but it's definitely different.
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Interesting about the letter being printed, Tony.

Incidentally, it's funny that the bookseller says: "Enid Blyton died in 1968 and they didn't do book signings back then so those signatures are worth more money." This wasn't a book signing, of course, but Enid did do quite a lot of book signings!
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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Rob Houghton »

Interesting point, Anita! Just another example of how underrated Enid is - she was one of the earlier book signing champions!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Woman finds Enid Blyton letter in £1 book

Post by walter raleigh »

"Stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence like poor Julian in the Famous Five!"

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Re: Enid Blyton letter found in £1 book in Hay On Wye.

Post by Courtenay »

The Beeb is upfront about the likelihood of it being a "pre-printed facsimile" with the name Mary written in.
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Re: Woman finds Enid Blyton letter in £1 book

Post by Daisy »

Good to see you Walter. There have been some interesting comments on this here.
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... f=3&t=7529" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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