Peter Archer's Secret Series Cover Artwork

[pete9012S]

It is interesting to take a closer look and rate Peter Archer's cover illustrations for the Secret Series.

Some covers hit the spot and are very enjoyable.
Some covers lack accuracy when compared to the text, as has been mentioned on the forums recently.
Overall I think he did a very good job.
The fantastic cave has made all his covers available for us to enjoy:
https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/secret-series.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I must declare I am rather prejudiced as these are the book covers I grew up with and enjoyed first as a young lad in the early to mid 1970's.

What do you think???



Mmmm 1971. Great artistry, but doesn't match my mental image of the Secret Island's topography.
Would have been a great cover for The Adventurous Four though, don't you think!! - so 7/10.



Another attempt in 1978 - much better depiction that fits the text. 8/10



This 1971 edition is my growing up definitive version - it must have inspired me, as I have spent the whole of my life since looking into caves like this hoping to find a rope leading to a secret passage...10/10


1978 - bit insipid compared to the one above, buy still perfectly acceptable 8/10.


This 1971 cover is the definitive one for me - just looking at it brings back strong memories. A strong 10/10.


This 1978 cover doesn't really do it for me, but maybe it floats your boat?? 7/10.


Like many others, this 1971 cover is not my fave of Peter's work so a low score I'm afraid 6/10.


This 1978 cover fits very closely to the scenes I imagined in my head when I first read the book. 9/10.



1971- One of my most enjoyed covers. I loved this book from the minute I saw it on the shelf in the bookshop in the 1970's and then immediately started reading it! 10/10.



1978 - A perfectly acceptable, adequate cover, but for me it doesn't set the world on fire.. 7/10.

Over to you - what are your thoughts? He's no Betty Maxey, that's for sure.....

[Lucky Star]

Thanks for the uploads Pete. Peter Archer is certainly no Maxey. For which we must be profoundly thankful. Just kidding.

Yes the first covers for each book were my growing up copies in the late 70s as well. Just looking at them transports me back. That's probably why I'm quite defensive of the Kilimooin cover. The Secret Mountain is very powerful and the Spiggy Holes early cover really fires the imagination.

The early Secret Island cover does make the island look more like an island in the sea rather than ona lake. There again the text does make clear that the island must be a reasonable size to accommodate all the areas that the children use.

[Rob Houghton]

Interesting round-up, Pete! I generally rate Peter Archer's covers highly - even Killimooin is artistic and conjures up happy memories for me - its a great illustration - but as I said on the other thread, doesn't quite depict the excitement of the story, in my view.

I love all the other covers...although when I first read 'The Secret Island' - which was the Peter Archer cover - I presumed from the cover that it would involve the usual baddies, up to no good on the island - so I was a bit disappointed at first - though I loved the story. As you say, that cover would be more suited to The Adventurous Four or another adventurous type of book!

The Secret of Moon Castle cover is not one I was familiar with growing up and I've only come across it more recently - mainly on eBay. The cover I remember was this one - on my sister's copy -



For me, it really conjures up the excitement I felt when I first read this book - probably my second favourite in the series, after 'Mountain' (which I never read as a child, unfortunately).

[John Pickup]

In my opinion, Peter Archer is a very underrated cover artist. His work made those Armada paperbacks so appealing along with the covers by Dorothy Brook, Mary Gernat and Charles Stewart when these books were first published in the early 1960s. The very informative Armada Paperbacks Website, excellently compiled by the late John Allsup, has images of all the covers and, where known, their credited artists.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I agree that the Peter Archer covers are generally very attractive, though the colours used for the 1978 edition of The Secret Mountain (the one with the green border) are a bit garish. I prefer the covers with softer, dreamier colours.

[pete9012S]

I prefer the covers with softer, dreamier colours...

That post reminded me of Anne Kirrin Anita.
You'll be telling us you don't want any adventures on your summer holiday next!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I may be an Anne Kirrin when it comes to dreamy colours but I'm a Jack Trent when it comes to adventures!

[pete9012S]

[Lucky Star]

Yes that 1978 Mountain cover does nothing for me whatsoever. The earlier cover has better colouring, better drawing and is a much more realistic capture of the action.

I love that Moon Castle cover Rob. When I saw it in a bookshop a few years ago I bought it even though I already had several copies of the book on my shelves. John Pickup is correct, those early Armada covers were enthralling and a big part of what drove me to keep on picking up books.

[Rob Houghton]

Not to take this thread too far off topic...but talking of intriguing covers, this one has always been one of the most intriguing covers I remember from my childhood! -



I saw it on my sister's paperback, and thought 'The Put-Em-Rights must be a seriously funny and shocking book to read!! For some reason, I never got around to reading it until I was an adult, and then I discovered the truth behind the adage 'never judge a book by its cover', as The Put-Em-Rights is not one of my most favourite EB books - but I still love this cover.

Is it also by Peter Archer...? Maybe not - but the style is very similar.

[John Pickup]

Both in the Cave and on John Allsup's Armada website, the cover illustration is uncredited, Rob. I prefer the earlier Armada cover which can be seen in the Cave, also uncredited.

[Rob Houghton]

It's a shame we don't know who illustrated some of these covers.

I also like the earlier Armada cover - but this one was one I always found intriguing as a child, looking at my older sister's book collection! A cover depicting soup being poured over a boy's head by a GROWN UP!? To me that was quite shocking!!

[Ian Regan]

Peter himself confirmed that he did the Secret series covers from the early 1970s, but I didn't manage to ask him about the 1978 covers before he died. As someone who has studied Peter's style for some years now, I don't believe that the '78 paperbacks were illustrated by Peter. The contemporaneous Barney paperbacks WERE by Peter, and if you compare those to the Secret series Armada covers, you'll see why I don't think they match his style at all.

[Ian Regan]

Also, that "Put 'Em RIghts" cover doesn't look like Peter's handiwork either. His style in the 60s seemed to mirror Stewart, Brook and Gernat, but really flourished into a distinctive, textured approach by 1970.

[pete9012S]

Thank you Ian - I really enjoy perusing your excellent website, which I often use in conjunction with Tony's Cave.

(If you haven't yet discovered Ian's site you're in for a treat!)

Series Book Art - Internal Illustrations
Enid Blyton

http://seriesbookart.co.uk/blyton/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Pete