The Enid Blyton Society

A most interesting thread. Thanks, Duncan.

In Betty Maxey's 1967 cover for Five Go Adventuring Again, it looks as if the children are collectively looking out into the day and saying: "Nah, don't fancy it, let's stay in for a change."

Still, Enid liked it and Pete likes it and those are the main things!

(Actually, I like it as well.)

Just for you Rob..

Thanks Pete! I think my set of Maxey paperbacks (actually my sister's!) were all the second later versions of the covers. I like some of the earlier ones. Her colour work was great in my opinion.

I’ve just finished reading your entry on your blog, Duncan. It is a very interesting article. You are sort of the decoder. I would like to have read more information regarding Enid’s diaries.

For some reason, I feel angry with Kenneth for destroying some of Enid’s diaries!

I have always loved to know how my favourite authors tackle their works in detail.

I have never seen those diaries from the 1960s before. I kept all the early diaries here for a few years as they were in a large box of Enid's things that Barbara Stoney handed over to me, it possibly isn't clear from what Duncan wrote, but she did actually have two of the early diaries each year, a normal one and a nature one. The nature one was primarily to do with the garden as far as I remember, but I didn't look at them all that thoroughly. I read all the others carefully looking for any information about books, but there wasn't all that much about particular books in them, more about visits to publishers in London. I was only given the five-year diary at a later stage and didn't have so much time on it, but I did scan every page and it is still on my computer.

Eventually I gave the diaries and any personal things back to Imogen, but all the things that were to do with her work and writing I still have here and it is in some of these books that I can see what Enid was trying to do in the mid 1960s. I did speak to George Greenfield about this as he thought that Enid was trying to give him things that were already in print, but in this case he got it wrong as I have seen what Enid intended to go into these books and to this day the stories are still uncollected.

That's a really fascinating update Tony - especially the end part of your post about Enid's work in the 1960's.
Thank you for the information.

I understand sixret's frustration that we don't have more documented information about Enid's private life etc etc, but I guess rightly or wrongly Kenneth decided to do what he felt was best for his wife.

Really interesting, Tony! Especially about ENid's ideas for story collections in the 1960's which George thought had already been published! How wonderful it would be if those collections could be published today, just as Enid intended them to be!

I can understand Kenneth wanting to destroy her diaries (particularly the ones that referred to his illicit affair with Enid!), but I would have loved to see more of her work books. The one in the box with the diaries covered four years 1923-1926 Inc. Again I have this all scanned on my computer, but I have handed the actual book over to Seven Stories now. The date 1927 appears on a page of 'Work Done' with an entry for January 3rd. This is crossed out and 'See New Book' is written underneath. Unfortunately Ken the Arsonist saw it first!



And a full page from 1926 to see - including a story from the recently published Christmas Treats, written on October 1st and the Interview with A.A. Milne!

That was fascinating and so poignant to read about Enid's last years, thank you for posting.

Fascinating, Tony - The Christmas Pudding That Wouldn't Stop is the Christmas Treats story, as I see from my own copy!

Everything on the page above was published apart from the Parliament Article that was written for Teachers World but never used. Some of the stories and poems had their titles changed when they were published, of the four things written on September 3rd, 'Who Is It?' was the only thing to keep its original name.

That's a shame. I rather like the title 'Candleshoe and the Ribbon (book? box?) not sure of the last word?

or Bows perhaps?