The Enid Blyton Society

I think there have only been two biographies of Enid Blyton, the second one was by her agent, George Greenfield, who readily admitted that much of his book had been taken straight from Barbara's book as have all other accounts of her life. George did have some interesting things to say about embezzlement in the company after Enid's death though.

Nothing has been changed in the latest edition of Barbara's book, although she did add another chapter at the end.The latest edition also has a completely new bibliography at the end which I did for Barbara at her request as so much new information on the books had come to light since her book was first written.

I bought a copy of Looking For Enid from a second-hand shop in Lincoln a few years ago. I didn't really understand it, I didn't like it and I won't be reading it again.

Tony Summerfield wrote:I think there have only been two biographies of Enid Blyton, the second one was by her agent, George Greenfield, who readily admitted that much of his book had been taken straight from Barbara's book as have all other accounts of her life. George did have some interesting things to say about embezzlement in the company after Enid's death though.

Nothing has been changed in the latest edition of Barbara's book, although she did add another chapter at the end.The latest edition also has a completely new bibliography at the end which I did for Barbara at her request as so much new information on the books had come to light since her book was first written.

That's another book I've read - by George Greenfield. I agree the parts about the embezzlement were fascinating.

The main thing I like about the 'new' edition of Barbara's book are the extra pages of coloured illustrations of book covers etc, and the extended bibliography.

Yes. I had forgotten the coloured pages, they were mine too. I think I have mentioned before that Barbara was very upset as they left out a whole page of the new material by accident. They promised to put it in when they reprinted, but sadly it never got reprinted. Somewhere I have got all the omitted material as Barbara sent me the extra chapter to proofread before it went to the publishers.

pete9012S wrote:

Duncan has very kindly allowed me to post a few pages from chapter three of his book,In Bourne End from Looking For Enid which I recently re-read as it touches on Old Thatch and may be of interest to those discussing it in the other thread.







As I mentioned to Duncan in email earlier,I don't think the for sale particulars make any mention of the cellar at Old Thatch?

Looking For Enid - Chapter Three Bourne End (Old Thatch visit continued)

Here's a few more pages from the book relating to Old Thatch:








Many thanks again to Mr Duncan Mclaren for allowing permission to use this section about Old Thatch in the thread.

I think the above pages simply confirm what I wrote in my post above, that everything that is written about Enid' life is taken straight from Barbara Stoney's book, there is nothing new here at all. Even the books listed are taken straight from her original bibliography, but it always concerns me when a publication is listed wrongly as is the case for Sunny Stories for Little Folks which should have an 's' on the end. A more common mistake that almost everybody makes is that Teachers World does not have an apostrophe - even if perhaps it should have one.

I'd forgive mistakes with spelling and apostrophes a lot more readily if the content wasn't approximately half lifted from a much more diligent researcher and half wild and lurid speculation on the part of the book's author.

The one thing that's always struck me regards 'Finding Enid' is that anyone could have used their imagination (and Barbara's book!) and written that kind of thing themselves -

'I stood in the neat little garden to Old Thatch, wondering if I should bang on the door. Before I could come to a satisfactory answer, it suddenly opened in front of me, and there stood Enid - wearing a bright red jumper and a grey tweed skirt - and who was that behind her? It looked like Bobs the dog, bounding up and down, thinking maybe I was the butcher.

"Oh! Hallo Twit!" Enid said, looking me up and down, "No bread today, but do you have some good gooey currant buns? I'm having The Five Find Outers round to tea, and I know they love gooey buns...or maybe you have macaroons?"

"I'm afraid I only have some bread and these big old boots!" I replied, feeling sheepish, "Please, Enid Blyton - maybe you could tell a story about them?"

"Oh, I certainly could!" smiled Enid, "Why don't you come inside, and I'll make a cup of cocoa and you can hear all about it!"

etc etc.

Tony Summerfield wrote:A more common mistake that almost everybody makes is that Teachers World does not have an apostrophe - even if perhaps it should have one.

There is no 'perhaps' about it! I find it even worse that it is a magazine featuring teaching material and stories for young children. I always put in the apostrophe, it is not a mistake as I know it wasn't included in the masthead. I add it intentionally. Maybe I shouldn't! It is impossible to find much information on the magazine online, and I wonder why this error was never corrected.

I notice that Foyles (sic) bookshop has now dropped the apostrophe. Again, from such an establishment as Foyle's, I find it impossible to understand. The poor apostrophe is either missing or put in where it doesn't belong. Many firms now drop it from their product titles, or have never used it, Watneys Red Barrel, being a prime example.

Moonraker wrote:Many firms now drop it from their product titles, or have never used it, Watneys Red Barrel, being a prime example.

While we're being pedantic about punctuation, Nigel, the above-highlighted mark is a prime example of what Lynne Truss (of Eats, Shoots and Leaves fame) calls a yob's comma.

I call it a typo.

Ahh but where do you put the apostrophe Nigel? Is it Teacher's World or Teachers' World? Arguments could be made for either!

Was it ever produced for Teachers? It seems an odd title for a kids' comic/magazine. It sounds as if it should be a magazine for teachers, not children.

I would say the apostrophe should go after the s as it would literally mean, The World of Teachers.

Maybe it is an error, and should have been called Teach-us World.

I don't think it was produced for children - always presumed it was written for teachers to read to children or take inspiration from.

I think you're right Rob. It was never intended for children, surely? Also, when it was being produced, she was not the household name she later became when she began writing novels for children, so youngsters would not look for such a publication. Did it even have her name on the cover?