The Secret Island

[Ming]

£10,000 pounds for a book? I give up.

[Blytonboy]

I think you have both missed the point .
It is more likely that the seller was having a laugh as a result of the stupidity of the person asking the question. Wasn't the single figure response a major clue as to the feeling behind the reply?
Having said that, if a 1st Ed of the Secret Island turned up with a decent DJ (some hope) I could see it making up to £1000 or more on a good day.

[Timmy-the-dog]

I think Tony is quite right. From a collectors viewpoint the wrapper is a massive percentage of the value of these rarer books.
"Five on a Treasure island" 1st edition prices fetched last year - £2200 with the wrapper, about £70 without the wrapper. As there are more Famous Five collectors out there than general Blyton collectors I think the estimate of £10,000 is way out. I don't think Secret Island would fetch anything like that price and I'm not surprised the copy on ebay didn't go any higher.
Perhaps the owner of the copy with the complete wrapper would like to post a picture of it here - especially as most of us have never seen one

[Blytonboy]

Without labouring the point, I think the £10000 estimate was a "throw away" remark not meant to taken seriously!

[Moonraker]

Without labouring the point, I think the £10000 estimate was a "throw away" remark not meant to taken seriously!

But can you be certain? Why answer a sensible question with a "throwaway" remark? I still think the seller was lucky to receive bids up to £30 - it looked a pretty tatty book to me!

[Timmy-the-dog]

Without labouring the point, I think the £10000 estimate was a "throw away" remark not meant to taken seriously!

Could well be. You could go and ask him - he only lives round the corner from you
cheers
Timmy

[Tony Summerfield]

Your Journals are on the way Timmy Dog. I still can't get through to you by email!

[Moonraker]

Tony, you could always try the Twilight Bark...

[Seymour Glass]

To my surprise I came across The Secret Island in Borders today. The first time I'd found any of the Secret series in a bookshop. They also had Spiggy Holes, Killimooin and Moon Castle but no Secret Mountain. I already have Moon Castle so I bought Spiggy Holes and Killimooin - I'll probably get The Secret Island at a later point. I also picked up Emil and the Detectives, a book I never read as a child so thought I would read now. My town's library used to stock the sequel, Emil and the Three Twins, which I'd like to read properly sometime as well.

[Rob Houghton]

I bought a copy of 'The Secret Island' in very good condition about 3 years ago. True, it isn't a first edition (it's a third edition from 1941) and it doesn't have a dust wrapper, but it is as near to a first edition as I'm likely to get, and for the price of £3.50 I think I did very well indeed!

[Blytonboy]

Monnraker, when did you last see a 1st edition of "The Secret Island" in any condition? The 1938 first is very rare- the later books, even the the early 40's, are relatively common.

[Lucky Star]

Did you put in a bid yourself Blytonboy? You seem pretty enthused by the book. Or do you already have a copy?

[Rob Houghton]

...or were you the person selling it??!!

[Moonraker]

Of course he was

[Lucky Star]