The Secret Island

[Carlotta King]

I do my best!

[Katharine]

I've always counted this as one of my favourite Enid Blyton books, and have just started to read it again. Only a little way in, and I can already see why I consider this to be one of her best books.

Sadly, as an adult I often find small niggles with Enid's books, and some of the magic I experienced as a child has been lost as I find fault with the plots. Thankfully, I don't get that feeling with this book.

I still feel the excitement as the children squirrel away food and tools for their life on the island, I still feel the despair the children must have felt when they were told they couldn't have their usual Sunday picnic, and then the relief when they got away safely.

[Chrissie777]

Sadly, as an adult I often find small niggles with Enid's books, and some of the magic I experienced as a child has been lost as I find fault with the plots. Thankfully, I don't get that feeling with this book.
I still feel the excitement as the children squirrel away food and tools for their life on the island, I still feel the despair the children must have felt when they were told they couldn't have their usual Sunday picnic, and then the relief when they got away safely.

Katharine, I didn't discover and read this book before May 2015 and instantly fell in love with it. Will read it again next week. But this time I will take my time. The first time when I read it I couldn't wait to see how the story continues.
Just like you I couldn't find any flaws with the plot. Wonderful escapism and full of magic.

[Nicko]

This seems to be as good a place as any for this question, obviously loads of Blyton books including the Secret series have been published by Award over the years. Was Award an imprint of another publishing company?

[pete9012S]

Is it getting harder to get an older hard backed version of this book,even without a dust jacket?

I had a look around recently and only came up with this selection:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Sear ... ret+island" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rob Houghton]

The short answer is - 'YES!'

I love telling everyone how I got an early edition (1941) without a dust wrapper but with a coloured frontispiece for only £3 - but that was about 15 years ago...I doubt I'd be so lucky these days!

[pete9012S]

Thanks for confirming that Rob. I bought a 1949 edition in good condition without dustwrapper for well under a tenner a few years ago.

Lots of the illustrations have been coloured in,but in this case I rather like what young Janet White from Notts has done after receiving the book from Auntie Elsie & Pauline back in Christmas 1949...

28 Mar 2013, 13:54



from left to right....



from right to left....

My reprint version of the Secret Island includes these illustrations which have been lovingly coloured in with watercolours around Christmas 1949 by Janet from Notts!


I know many don't agree with colouring the books in,but if Janet was say around ten years old in 1949 she would be aged somewhere around seventy two years old now.I find that quite touching somehow...

What do you think of Janet's painting skills? I have included the original illustrations from the cave for comparison...

[sixret]

Lovely collection, Pete! They look beautiful.

And thank you so much, Pete. I have just bought Secret Island second edition 1941 for less than £30 from one of the seller in the given link. I already have 1947 edition. My goal is to buy all of them first edition with or without dust jackets. So far, I have all in first edition except The Three Golliwogs( I have second edition December 1944), first edition is April 1944. The Children of Cherry Tree Farm( I have second edition edition 1941), first edition is 1940 and Secret Island( I've just ordered 1941 edition. I already have the 1947 edition), first edition is 1938.

I have all novels/novelletes in first edition(and or later edition with dust jackets if my first edition doesn't have the dust jacket) except Bom series and Noddy series. I don't have an intention to collect them in first edition although I have them in later editions. I have all Noddy titles in dust jackets. The only two titles in novels/novelletes that I don't have in first edition are Jolly Times and The Wonderful Adventures, although I have them in booklet form published by EBS. I also have Amelia Jane series, Mr. Twiddle series, Mr,. Pink-Whistle series and Mr. Meddle series in first edition and/or later edition with dust jacket.

My goal is to have all the titles in first edition with dust jacket. If it is not possible, I will buy two edition, one is first edition and one is later edition with dust jacket of the same title.

I can say this, Most prices quoted on Ebay are exorbitantly high. There are other alternative to buy books online. I have bought most of my first edition elsewhere where the prices were not *that* expensive compared to Ebay. Not on Ebay. There's too many competition on Ebay.

Below is the list of EB titles that are more difficult to find in first edition:

1) Secret Island- almost impossible. I have not yet found one. Not on ebay.
2) Let's Pretend- I was lucky on that day. The book was there on Ebay. Newly listed as buy-it-now and I just bought it. Way less than £100 including postage to Malaysia. Ebay.
3) The Adventures of Wishing Chair- After our discussion about this book, I quickly(as usual) used my usual technique to find it. I could not believe my eyes. It was there online(not Ebay). I bought it from a seller in South Africa. The book arrived four days later. Very cheap price too considering its rarity. In good(actually very good, in my honest opinion) condition. Not on ebay.
4) Adventurous Four- One of the scarce title in first edition. I bought it from WorldofRareBooks. It was there without anyone buying it! Ebay but bought it from their own website to get the 15% discount and £2 postage to Malaysia.
5) Mr. Galliano's Circus- Also one of the scarce title. Bought it from one of the independent seller online. Not on ebay.
6) Naughty Amelia Jane- I had not found it until yesterday! I could not believe my luck. In good condition with dust jacket from one of the independent seller. It is on my way now. Not on ebay/
7) The Folk Of The Faraway Tree. The hardest to find of all three. Again, I bought it for less than £100. Not on ebay.
8 )All Mary Pollock titles are very scarce in first edition. I bought all not from ebay.

Below is the list of the titles that are possible to find in first edition but could fetch high price:

1) Magic Faraway Tree- I bought it way less that £100 with good dust jacket. Not on ebay.
2) Enchanted Wood- £20 including postage!. Not on ebay.
3) Five Go Adventuring Again. Ebay.
4) Five Run Away Together. Not on ebay.
5) Five Go To Smuggler's Top. Not on ebay.
6) The Family At Red-Roofs. Not on ebay.
7) Hollow Tree House. Not on ebay.
8 ) The Mystery of The Burnt Cottage. Not on ebay.
9) The Mystery of Banshee Towers. Not on ebay.
10) The Green Goblin. Not on ebay.
12) The Treasure Hunters. Ebay.
13) Holiday House. From worldofrarebooks. Less than £15.
14) All the other four titles in Secret series. I bought all not from ebay.
15) Amelia Jane, Mr. Twiddle, Mr. Meddle and Mr. Pink Whistle. The first edition are few but still possible to buy them apart from Naughty Amelia Jane.

List of books that are easy to find in first edition:

1) All Famous Five titles apart from the titles stated above.
2) All titles in Secret Seven series.
3) All titles in Adventure series.
4) All titles Five Find Outers series apart from those two titles stated above.
5) All titles in barney series.

Good luck to all of you who want to buy the first editions. Eventually, you will get them if you're really looking for them hard enough in reasonable and affordable prices.

[Rob Houghton]

Janet's painting skills are fabulous! I wouldn't mind owning a book with her artistry adding to the illustrations as it does - some of the best colouring in I've seen in a book! Looks very professional.

[pete9012S]

I have decided to scan all the watercolours she did in better quality Rob.
You can now view them all here:


The Secret Island - Janet White Watercolours Circa 1949

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... =12&t=7507" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Pete

[Tony Summerfield]

Great to see colouring done in the days before felt pen, Pete! I have colouring in some books, but none of it is up to that standard.

Interesting to read your guide of what is easy to find and what isn't, Sixret. You don't say whether all your early first editions are in nice dustwrappers. I found that all the early Newnes and Blackwells books from the 1930s were almost impossible to find in nice dustwrappers and the few that did turn up were offered at an unaffordable price - and remember that most of my collecting was before the internet even existed, let alone Ebay. I still don't have a copy of The Secret Island in a dustwrapper with its pictorial spine. The two copies that I was offered are both pictured in the Cave and the asking price for both of these, one a 1st and the other a 2nd, was over a thousand pounds each. I won't pay these silly prices which is why I stopped collecting a while back. I have 1st editions of all these books without wrappers (although almost all apart from Hurrah for the Circus have the correct photocopy wrapper on them) and they were all inexpensive from Charity shops etc., none were bought on the internet.

If you wonder what I mean by inexpensive, The Enchanted Wood 1st edition cost £1!

[sixret]

The guide is from my recent experience of buying first editions. I bought all my first edition Secret series without dust jackets except Moon Castle which has an excellent dust jacket. I just bought it two days ago. I forgot to save the seller's photo of that book. I did ask the seller if the dust jacket was a facsimile or copied and he said no. I will take the photos when the book arrives, if you want to see. And I also bought reprints of those titles with the dust jackets. The dust jackets are all in very good to excellent condition. Again, I asked each seller if the dust jackets were facsimile or copied. They said no. What I will do is to use those dust jackets from the reprinted titles to my first edition copies.

The majority of my first editions ( all the easier titles) are very cheap. Back in 2014, one particular seller on Ebay listed many Enid Blyton books in bulk. Most of them were first editions lot. In fact, I acquired my Secret Island 1947 edition, Boys-Next Door first editon, More Adventures of Wishing Chair first edition with dj and most titles in various series like FFO, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, St. Clare's, Naughtiest Girl and others in first edition from this bulk listings! I was very surprised because almost most of the listings had no bids except my bids! Many of the titles came with dust jackets! So just imagine my surprise and excitement!

For example:

1) 8 First Edition Famous Five Titles with dw- starting bid value £10.
2) 12 First Edition Enid Blyton various titles- starting bid value £12.
3) 8 First Edition of FFO series- starting bid value £6.

I noticed, back then, this particular seller had always spelt Enid Blyton wrongly. They spelt it Enid Bylton.

So you get the idea of how cheap they were. And they were all in good conditions, mostly.

This particular seller offered/ has been offering(still until today, the last time I checked) the cheapest combined postage to Malaysia.

If you remember my post back in 2014. I have so many duplicates/extra copies that I listed in the post below:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... f=9&t=6343" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only in October 2016 that I decided to complete my first edition collection. Since then, I have managed to collect all of them except The Three Golliwogs(no dj. I bought second edition December 1944), Secret Island(no dj. Third edition 1941 just bought today! £30 including postage. Thanks to Pete), The Children of Cherry Tree Farm(no dj. Second edition 1941- £15 including postage to Malaysia in good condition).

So yes, I could say that I have bought most of my first editions of Enid Blyton books cheaply! I strongly believe that there are still reasonable and affordable copies of first edition out there online. It takes determination, patience, venturing to other online places and luck. Once you have found the affordable one in good condition, don't ever procrastinate. Just buy it!

[sixret]

It would be impossible for me to get £1 price for a book, Tony. If I were a UK resident, I would have travelled across UK to find first edition of Enid Blyton. I might have found £1 bargain.

[Rob Houghton]

I have a first edition of Willow Farm in a very good dust jacket, a few first edition Famous Fives in dust jackets, and some of the Barney Mysteries and Fatty mysteries are also first edition in dust wrappers. I never class myself as having a 'first edition' unless it has a wrapper, as I have loads of first editions without wrappers (mainly school series or short stories).

For my main collections (which all have wrappers - Famous Five, Barney, Fatty, Adventure, Naughtiest Girl, Secret Seven etc) I don't mind what edition they are as long as they are 'original edition' as in colour frontis pages, two-tone illustrations and end papers (if available) and the Secret Seven books with the children linking hands (except for the last two or three which weren't published in that version).

The Secret series is the hardest one to find in any edition with good dust wrappers. Like Sixret, the only first edition in its original wrapper I have for that series is Moon Castle.

[Fiona1986]

Gosh, Abebooks are getting as bad as eBay...

More than £70 for a recent paperback? I have that very paperback. Didn't know it was worth a fortune

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Book ... d%2Bblyton" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;