The Enid Blyton Society

Hullo.

     I think I have asked this before, but I'm not sure if it was on this forum or not - I don't think so. (In any case, I got no reply; otherwise I wouldn't have to ask again.
     It's just that I recall someone saying that the original edition of "The Secret Island", way back before the war, is the only complete text, and all other editions have been substantially abridged. I'm not talking about 1970s or post-1970s updatings, but an abridgement that took place much, much earlier. If this is true, even the 1960s paperback I had would be a shortened text. The problem is, I don't recall where I heard or read this, and how reliable it is.
     Does anyone know if this is true or not? I really hope it isn't, because that will probably mean I will never get a complete version. I imagine that original edition is probably as rare as hens' teeth, and extremely expensive.
     If it is true, where is my best chance of finding a copy of the complete version? And will it ruin me financially?
     Thanks.

Regards, Michael.

I haven't heard that about The Secret Island, Michael. Adventures of the Wishing-Chair was drastically abridged for all editions after the first edition, and The Yellow Fairy Book underwent significant changes. Some short story collections also had several stories removed. Other than that, I think most books dating from before the late 1960s will have the original text.

     Well, I think I do have one or two of the Wishing Chair books, but they are not a high priority of mine. They certainly are not very early editions, so I guess they are incomplete. Is that an example where it would be almost impossible to get the full text now?
     And what of the much more recent (and posthumous, by a couple of decades) "third" Wishing Chair book, a collection of short stories? (I forget its title.) Are those genuinely new stories, or just extracts from the earlier two books?
     This tinkering with the texts never fails to infuriate me! What a cheek!

Regards, Michael.

The "third" Wishing-Chair book (More Wishing-Chair Stories) contains the missing chapters from the first edition of Adventures of the Wishing-Chair, plus Wishing-Chair stories from Sunny Stories and Enid Blyton's Omnibus!

I am reading the "Adventures of the Wishing Chair" at the moment and trying to read them in the original order that appeared in Sunny Stories and the first edition. I only have a Dean copy and "More Wishing Chair Stories" published by Egmont in 2000, so I am changing between one book and the other.

All was going well until I realized that the Egmont book misses out the final chapter (Ch. 36 The Last Adventure Of All). I had thought that "More Wishing Chair Stories" mopped up all the missing chapters from the first edition, but I do not believe this the case. There is a chapter titled 'The Disappearing Land', but I think this is the two episodes that were published in Sunny Stories in October 1938. Can anyone confirm that? And what editions other than the first have 'The Last Adventure Of All'?

Kate.

P.S. I have the Armada edition of "The Secret Island", I do hope it isn't abridged.

I haven't time to read through it properly myself but I think your questions about the Wishing-Chair series are answered in the following thread, Kate:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... it=omnibus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kate Mary wrote:I have the Armada edition of "The Secret Island", I do hope it isn't abridged.

Mine is an Armada paperback too, dating from the 1970s. I'm pretty sure it's not abridged.

Thanks, Anita but I read through that thread before starting to read the Adventures of the Wishing Chair, Raci's list is invaluable, I printed it and used it to find out the correct reading order. It seems 'The Last Adventure Of All' was published in "More Wishing Chair Tales" but not in "More Wishing Chair Stories". I'm confused! I thought at first that 'The Disappearing Land' was The last Adventure..., but it does not marry up with the Hilda McGavin illustrations in the Cave. So it must be the Sunny Stories episodes. I shall just have to keep my eyes peeled for another edition that includes the missing chapter.

Kate

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

Kate Mary wrote:I am reading the "Adventures of the Wishing Chair" at the moment and trying to read them in the original order that appeared in Sunny Stories and the first edition. I only have a Dean copy and "More Wishing Chair Stories" published by Egmont in 2000, so I am changing between one book and the other.

All was going well until I realized that the Egmont book misses out the final chapter (Ch. 36 The Last Adventure Of All). I had thought that "More Wishing Chair Stories" mopped up all the missing chapters from the first edition, but I do not believe this the case. There is a chapter titled 'The Disappearing Land', but I think this is the two episodes that were published in Sunny Stories in October 1938. Can anyone confirm that? And what editions other than the first have 'The Last Adventure Of All'?

I haven't time to read through it properly myself but I think your questions are answered in the following thread, Kate:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... it=omnibus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kate Mary wrote:I have the Armada edition of "The Secret Island", I do hope it isn't abridged.

Mine is an Armada paperback too, dating from the 1970s. I'm pretty sure it's not abridged.

On another forum (Camra) moderators are cracking down on Block-quoting - what you have done here, Anita. It is said that there is no need to do it when your comment applies to the post directly above. If I had your mod-stick, you would be getting a reprimand right now!

But this isnt any other forum .Its our own "supremely splendid" Enid blyton society here ..lol

Moonraker wrote:If I had your mod-stick, you would be getting a reprimand right now!

I suppose self-flagellation will have to do! I do see what you mean though, and I've now removed the block-quoting.

Merged with an older topic.

I have noticed that earlier editions of this book are fatter than later ones and was wondering if that means chapters have been removed in later re-prints? I have a 1947 copy and have found a 2nd edition, however it is in a really bad state as it's almost detached from the spine and I want to know if it will be any different to my edition. If it's not it can stay where it is but it's a book that appears so little I wanted to check before dismissing it .

I have a 1941 edition which is quite thick - but then the pages are a lot thicker than normal - almost like card, so I presume that's why earlier editions were fatter. I presume later editions were thinner due to using thinner, cheaper paper. I don't think there was any editing at all - just a case of using cheaper thinner paper.

IceMaiden wrote: I have a 1947 copy and have found a 2nd edition, however it is in a really bad state as it's almost detached from the spine ..

Don't worry its still in 'acceptable' condition should you decide to offer it for sale..

I have the 1949 edition and 1965,1971 & 1978 paperbacks and I can't see any evidence of any pruning,unless it was pruned before 1949?
But from what Rob has posted above, that doesn't seem likely?

unless, like The Adventures of the Wishing Chair it was indeed pruned between the first and second editions?

Somehow I doubt it. Unlike The Wishing Chair - which is pretty-much a selection of short stories, you couldn't just chop chapters out of The Secret Island and still have it make sense!

The Secret Island for me is the April 1946 (5th listed inside) edition. Complete with dust wrapper, it's quite slim with 190 pages, a colour frontispiece and all the black and white illustrations as in the 'Cave', if that's of any help. Due to the paper shortage during this time, could that be the reason for thinner editions onwards?