GENERAL INTEREST
BLYTON by Nick Fletcher
Almost everyone will have heard of the name Enid Blyton, for she is the bestselling children’ s author of all time. Not long ago she was voted Britain’ s best-loved author in a nationwide poll and even nearly 50 years after her death, her books still sell nearly 10 million copies each year worldwide.
Born in 1897, and writing continuously from 1922 until close to her death in 1968, she wrote 800 books and almost 5,000 short stories. She trained as a teacher and when she gave up that career to become a full-time writer, she still kept 9-5 office hours, turning out books week after week like a well-oiled machine. And some of her early books can now fetch £ 1,000 each.
She is of course best known for the Noddy books, and also the‘ Famous Five’ and‘ Secret Seven’ children’ s novels, though she had a very considerable output of other books and stories too.
The first‘ Famous Five’ book was published in 1942 and an original copy with its dust jacket is worth about £ 1,000. There were 20 more published in the following two decades and even a‘ Famous Five’ novel from the 1960s will be worth about £ 75 with its dust jacket intact.
The‘ Secret Seven’ titles are less popular than the‘ Five’ books and the first few, published in the late 1940s, tend to fetch around £ 80- £ 100. Later titles are typically worth £ 30 to £ 50. Of course it’ s important to emphasize that these prices all relate to first editions from the first year of publication, and with the original paper dust cover. Blyton books were endlessly re-printed and the re-prints have little or no value.
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Enid Blyton also wrote a series of adventure titles, the first one produced in 1944 called‘ The Island of Adventure’. Not such big sellers as the‘ Famous Five’ and‘ Secret Seven’, they are harder to acquire and typically fetch £ 100 to £ 500 each for first editions, the earlier ones being the most valuable. Blyton also did a series of mystery titles, the first one called‘ The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage’ produced in 1943 and worth about £ 250. Later titles are typically between £ 50 and £ 75. First editions of her Malory Towers, St Clare’ s School and Naughtiest Girl series, all from the 1940s, fetch around £ 200 each.