First Editions - Famous Five

[clive]

Hi there!
My first message on this forum and warm greetings from a rather rainy Cape Town,South Africa!
I started collecting EB some 2 years ago and initially first edition fives were readily available both in this country and on ebay.
Has anyone noticed how much scarcer they have become?
I finf it very difficult to obtain any EB first editions let alone the five series!
The fives I am missing are the first four in the series-tall order,what!
I do have them with dustwrappers but later editions.
Anybody willing to part with them at a fair price?
Have a great weekend!

[Donna Perry]

Hi

I have a first edition of Five have a wonderful time. Let me know if you are interested.

Donna

[Mollybob]

Hi Clive. Welcome to the forums
I've also been collecting first editions for a few years and am still missing Five On a Treasure Island and Five Run Away Together. I do have two of the books you're looking for but am not parting with them (sorry)
I think there's been a general downturn in book sales on ebay recently due to the fact that ebay has increased the selling fees to 9% for books. The four you are looking for seem to be particularly hard to come by anyway, although I did get Five Go to Smugglers Top on ebay for just £70 last year! It was the first and only time I'd seen it for sale, so I was thrilled.
Which other series have you collected?

[clive]

Hi Donna and Mollybob!

Donna, I do have "five have a wonderful time" with clipped dustcover.
Is your book unclipped?

Mollybob, thanks for your response as well.

I have also collected the adventure series and managed to obtain all of them. The "Island of Adventure is not in very good condition ie the dustwrapper has large chunks missing! I still treasure it tho as it is hard to come by.

My seven series is missing the following "firsts" in dustwrapper:

Secret seven on the trail
Go Ahead secret seven

The other series of which one is still missing is the Barney junior Mysterys

Here I still need The rockingdown mystery

I suppose one could just go out and buy all the missing books, but half the fun is finding them at car boot sales and school fairs.

Isnt that what a hobby should be?

Thanks again for your responses, would love to hear from you as well as any other member.

Cheers from a cold and windy Cape Town!

Clive

[happyxheart]

Hi all, this is my first post and I really hope someone can help. I am looking for a 1st edition of any famous five book for my partner's 40th birthday. If anyone knows where I can get one for a reasonable price I would be very greatful.

Have a good day all.

[Rob Houghton]

It all depends if you want them with dust wrappers or not! Some with dust wrappers could set you back around £90.00 or more, whilst hardbacked first editions might go for around £10.00, or less if you;re lucky.

Stella and Roses Books http://www.blytonbooks.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; have quite a few jacketless 'Fives' for between £8.00 and £20.00 . I use them a lot, and have always found them very reliable.

[happyxheart]

Thank you so much Robert I will check the website.

[Wayne Pyer]

Hi happyxheart and a very warm welcome.

[Eddie Muir]

Welcome to the forums, happyxheart.

David Schutte has a number of Famous Five first editions in his sales catalogue, but they are not cheap:

http://davidschutte.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Like Rob, I have also bought books from Stella and Rose and, agree, they are very reliable and provide an excellent service.

[pete9012S]

Welcome to the forums, happyxheart.

David Schutte has a number of Famous Five first editions in his sales catalogue, but they are not cheap:

http://davidschutte.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Like Rob, I have also bought books from Stella and Rose and, agree, they are very reliable and provide an excellent service.

Thats a good link Eddie,thanks.
Saw a section there on Milly Molly Mandy. Havent read those books for so long and had quite forgotten about them.
Never realised they started to be published around 1928! When I read them I assumed they were brand new books written for my generation.

Regards

Pete

[a_lawsons]

I'm new here but I have these Famous Five books:

1. Five on a Treasure Island First Edition, 5th Impression: 1948
2. Five on a Hike Together - 1978 Knight, illustrations by Betty Maxey, cover from 1st TV Series
3. Five have plenty of Fun – First reprint 1969 Knight, illustrations by Eileen A. Soper, cover by Betty Maxey
4. Five Have a Puzzling Time and other stories – first edition but 1995
5. Five go to Mystery Moor - 1969