The Enid Blyton Society

I would be very interested in purchasing a copy of this early Armada paperback, in reasonable condition at least.

Here is what the cover of this title looks like:



http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/auth ... php?id=235" target="_blank

That was quick off the mark, Ian, I only loaded those and added their key this afternoon!

I am sure that I don't have to tell you, but these Armadas in really nice condition are like gold dust now. If they do turn up at all they are normally 'well read'!

Hello Tony!

I must say that you've been doing an absolutely sterling job, in adding these keys to the Book Listing pages. As a paperback enthusiast, the publisher, year and illustrator information is of tremendous value to me.

Unfortunately, you are indeed spot-on about the scarcity of the earlier Armadas in good or better condition. Luckily, when a decent copy DOES turn up, the general paperback snobbery that seems to exist among most collectors (your good self not included, of course) ensures that the price stays very reasonable indeed.

Incidentally, did you know that it was Gordon Landsborough who set up Dragon Books in 1966? He must have been responsible for the poaching of the Mystery, St Clares and Malory Towers series from Armada.

Cheers,

Ian.

Ian Regan wrote:Incidentally, did you know that it was Gordon Landsborough who set up Dragon Books in 1966? He must have been responsible for the poaching of the Mystery, St Clares and Malory Towers series from Armada.

Cheers,

Ian.

I didn't know this, Ian, but I have always suspected some sort of connection to Methuen as all the earlier Dragon books had originally been published by them and of course they also produced hardback versions of the Dragon main series books.

I am glad you like the keys, I have been meaning to do it for a while, but it has been a case of finding the time. My final step will be the Famous Five books, with the most number of books and reprints I am not looking forward to it!

I have a copy of that edition of 'Mr Galliano's Circus', in good condition, bought last year for £1.00 My edition is actually 1962.

At the same time I got Armarda '1st edition' paperbacks of 'Circus day's Again', 'Hurrah for the Circus', 'The Naughtiest Girl' series and three Find-Outer books. I am making a collection of the Armada paperbacks, as I know they are becoming scarce, as you say - like 'gold dust'.

Tony, I discovered the truth about the origin of Dragon Books thanks to a thorough search using the very handy Google Books website:

How to find out about children's literature - Page 116
by Alec Ellis (1968) - 242 pages

A hardback book may cost as much as 21/- but its paper-covered equivalent can be purchased for as little as 3/-. Gordon Landsborough sponsored Armada Books which, having become too large for him to handle, he disposed of to Collins; and went on to launch the Dragon Books with Associated Publishers Ltd. in 1966.

Google Books also uncovered another little gem, this time concerning the origins of Armada Books; it appears that Gordon Landsbrough's two young daughters were among the first editors of this imprint:

SLJ: School Library Journal (School libraries - 1962)
The Misses Landsborough: Girl Editors

A BRITISH PUBLISHER has appointed two children, his daughters Bonny (10) and Diana (13), to serve as editors for a new children's paperback series, "Armada Paperbacks.” The father, Gordon Landsborough was quoted in The Bookseller as saying, "This series is intended for boys and girls in an age group roughly nine to 13..."Bonny and Diana helped screen the first selections for Armada. They have since been made editors, with full power of selection of titles. According to our informants, the girls' duties may soon be expanded to include selection of artwork for book covers. It is not known if the young ladies are actually on the company payroll. But we are told that the editors, no fools, have asked for an increase in pocket money.

Since you're preparing to do the book listing keys for the Famous Five paperbacks, I thought you might be interested to know that I think I have identified the artist who did the covers for the following Knight editions from the mid to late 1980s:



According to a website by collector Jonny Nillsson, some of the contemporary Swedish Famous Five editions also featured this artwork, which were credited to Andrew Lloyd-Jones:

http://web.telia.com/~u49908523/vifem.htm" target="_blank

I hope you find this helpful!

Ian.

That's very interesting, Ian, I have just been through that Swedish site and they seemed to use the same artwork throughout - but not on the same titles necessarily as the English versions!

I tried Andrew Lloyd-Jones in Google, but got nowhere, but I am sure they are right, and I will certainly use the information.

You may well know the cover illustrators of some of the other Armadas that at present I have simply put as uncredited.

I can see now why Armada published books that children actually wanted to read, whilst Puffin published books that adults thought children ought to read!

Tony Summerfield wrote:I tried Andrew Lloyd-Jones in Google, but got nowhere, but I am sure they are right, and I will certainly use the information.

I know Jonny quite well, and he's tends to be very reliable and diligent. As it happens, the only vaguely interesting results I myself could find on Andrew Lloyd-Jones are the following two pages that do at least confirm that an artist with that name exists (and that he appears to be from Wales):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/gogleddddwyr ... or04.shtml" target="_blank

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mary-S ... 1857923483" target="_blank

Tony Summerfield wrote: You may well know the cover illustrators of some of the other Armadas that at present I have simply put as uncredited.

I strongly suspect that Peter Archer was responsible for the five Armada covers of the Secret series from the early 1970s, and also for the six Barney series covers from the late 1970s:



The best 'evidence' I have for attributing Archer to the Barney covers is a book called Nowhere To Play that Archer illustrated in 1980:



If you compare the style of the cover illustration, to the portrait of the children on the back covers of the Barney Armada paperbacks, you will see how startlingly similar the style is. Coupled with the general likeness of the artwork with Archer's other contemporary covers (Three Investigators / Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew), this leaves me with little doubt that Archer was responsible for those six covers, and the portrait of the children on the back.

As far as the five Secret paperbacks are concerned, there is no such 'smoking gun' except, once again, the artwork is exceedingly similar to other known covers by Archer from that period.

Tony Summerfield wrote: I can see now why Armada published books that children actually wanted to read, whilst Puffin published books that adults thought children ought to read!

Yes, Gordon Landsborough seems to have been savvy enough to know how to cater for a young audience. I wonder if his daughters could be found after all of these years? They might be able to shed some interesting light on the development of both Armada and Dragon.

Anyway, keep up the good work Tony!

Robert Houghton wrote:I have a copy of that edition of 'Mr Galliano's Circus', in good condition, bought last year for £1.00 My edition is actually 1962.

At the same time I got Armarda '1st edition' paperbacks of 'Circus day's Again', 'Hurrah for the Circus', 'The Naughtiest Girl' series and three Find-Outer books. I am making a collection of the Armada paperbacks, as I know they are becoming scarce, as you say - like 'gold dust'.

Nice finds Robert!

Not are the early Armadas important in an historic sense, but they are also worthy for containing internal illustrations that are often superior to those used in the later Dragon reprints, and sometimes, even the original hardback editions themselves!

Ian Regan wrote:

Tony Summerfield wrote:I can see now why Armada published books that children actually wanted to read, whilst Puffin published books that adults thought children ought to read!

Yes, Gordon Landsborough seems to have been savvy enough to know how to cater for a young audience. I wonder if his daughters could be found after all of these years? They might be able to shed some interesting light on the development of both Armada and Dragon.

Very interesting. If they could be found, perhaps they could write something for the Journal?

Anita

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

Ian Regan wrote:

Tony Summerfield wrote:I can see now why Armada published books that children actually wanted to read, whilst Puffin published books that adults thought children ought to read!

Yes, Gordon Landsborough seems to have been savvy enough to know how to cater for a young audience. I wonder if his daughters could be found after all of these years? They might be able to shed some interesting light on the development of both Armada and Dragon.

Very interesting. If they could be found, perhaps they could write something for the Journal?

Excuse the multi-quotes, but that was what was going through my mind, Anita. An extremely interesting thread, Ian (BTW, yor avatar always makes me think of Dr Who). It also made me think that as purists, we go on and on about how superior the original books are (which of course they are), however, as you say Ian, some illustrations from later reprints are much better. For instance, the illustrations by J Abbey in the earliest Find-Outer series are pretty horrendous, and can only be improved.

I look forward to reading your article in a future Journal!

I still have a goodly number of Armada books, I never realised they were becoming collectable. Sadly though, mine are mostly in what might be called a "used" condition. I dont have the Mr Galliano's Circus books in Armada though.

Very interesting comments about illustrators and publishers here. I always looked for Armada books as a child but never realised that someone my own age had had a hand in the selection process, as Tony has mentioned I'm sure that played a big part in Armada's success. An article or talk by those ladies would indeed be very interesting.

Ian Regan wrote: I strongly suspect that Peter Archer was responsible for the five Armada covers of the Secret series from the early 1970s, and also for the six Barney series covers from the late 1970s:

If you compare the style of the cover illustration, to the portrait of the children on the back covers of the Barney Armada paperbacks, you will see how startlingly similar the style is. Coupled with the general likeness of the artwork with Archer's other contemporary covers (Three Investigators / Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew), this leaves me with little doubt that Archer was responsible for those six covers, and the portrait of the children on the back.

As far as the five Secret paperbacks are concerned, there is no such 'smoking gun' except, once again, the artwork is exceedingly similar to other known covers by Archer from that period.

I bow to your knowledge on this, Ian, and I have added Peter Archer to both the Barney books and the Secret Books - and in this latter case I think he is responsible for two editions.

Tony Summerfield wrote:I bow to your knowledge on this, Ian, and I have added Peter Archer to both the Barney books and the Secret Books - and in this latter case I think he is responsible for two editions.

Thanks Tony!

My fellow collector Jon Preddle is also an admirer of the work of Peter Archer, and we have worked together to produce a rough bibliography of the books he has illustrated, both credited and uncredited. He agrees with my conclusion that Archer rendered these particular Armada covers. (Of course, final confirmation could only be attained if the original artwork ever surfaces!)

However, with regards to the five 'Secret' series covers from 1978, I must admit to having doubts about whether Archer was responsible; they seem to lack the 'texture' that can often be found in the terrain or sky of a Peter Archer piece. Also, the models seem much too 'cartoonish' for my liking.

Unfortunately, I don't own any of these particular Armada editions, so my preliminary reaction is based purely on the scans available in the Book Listing pages. If I can get hold of some decent scans, I'll be able to reassess the artwork. I must also see what Jon's opinion is on this issue.

Meanwhile, a great deal of Peter Archer's output as a military or war artist can be seen here:

http://www.militaryartcompany.com/peter_archer.htm

Tony, I think I have an idea who might have been responsible for the covers of the Secret series, as published in 1986 by Armada:



The artwork on these covers (plus the other three I haven't shown) seems mightly similar to that on the 1988 cover of The Mystery That Never Was:



According to the Book Listing, the cover artist in that instance was Rodney Sutton. Searching on ABE Books with this name reveals an Armada omnibus from the same period with another cover illustration that matches the five 1986 Secret covers:

Mystery Stories - the Secret of Cliff Castle, Smuggler Ben
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... =257642764

The final clue comes from the 1989 cover of The Children at Green Meadows, which is also credited to Sutton and, once again, has a very similar style to the other covers mentioned above.



So do you think all of this would be enough to warrant crediting those five Secret covers to Rodney Sutton in the Book Listing?