Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

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nina
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Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by nina »

Hi all,

I'm from the uk but recently moved to Hong Kong to do a PhD on the Famous Five books.

I am looking at several different editions, but am missing 7 books I need.

These must all be first editions (doesn't matter what impression, it's just about the actual text inside). I have tried on abebooks but to send to HK some sellers are charging up to £20 per book! Obviously I am more than happy to cover postage but think this is a little steep.

I need:
Five Run Away Together
Five Go off to Camp
Five go to Mystery Moor
Five on Finniston Farm
Five go to Demons Rocks
Five have a Mystery to Solve
Five are Together Again

If anyone can help me with this I'd be so grateful!
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walter raleigh
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by walter raleigh »

Mmm, I think you might be being a bit optimistic here nina. An average price for an early edition sans dustjacket of most of the "Famous FIve" books seem to be about £5-10 depending on such vagaries as condition, how early an impression it is etc. When you factor in postage to Hong Kong £20 doesn't seem that much to me.

Also on my trawls through e-bay and abe and such sites I've found that most of the books you mention seem to be the rarer 'Five' titles and as such tend to command a bit of a premium. "Five On FInniston Farm" in particular seems a hard to find title. I still can't find a first with a dustjacket myself (at least not at a price I'm willing to pay)

There are still bargains out there though, but you have to be prepared to be patient. If time is a factor you may just have to swallow your pride and pay the market price. Of course there are many generous folk on this forum and you may find someone willing to take pity on you and let you have a valueable collectible book just for the price of postage and packing so there's no harm asking I suppose. Best of luck.
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nina
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by nina »

Thank you for your point of view, however I think your are overestimating the cost of postage. I am fully expecting the books to cost about £5 each for scruffy editions, I need them solely for the text so in this case I am not interested in the condition or dustjacket. The cost of the books themselves is not the issue here.
Postage to HK would probably be a maximum of about £15-20 for all the titles I need, rather than £20 per book as companies are asking. So I would expect the total cost to come in the region of £55.

At no point whatsoever did I ask anyone to 'let me have a valuable collectible book just for p+p', and neither am I asking 'generous folk' to 'take pity'.

My post was aimed at those who might have surplus of these titles, be willing to sell them, and be willing to post them to HK at a standard royal mail rate, rather than some overpriced courier service.

I suggest that in future you might read posts more carefully before casting your misguided aspersions.
Huffin and Puffin did seem to be perfectly lovely names
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Daisy »

Hello Nina
That sounds like an interesting project but I think you misunderstood Walter's remarks. You did specify first editions which obviously are more expensive but there are a number of tatty (hardback) Fives books to be found in charity and second-hand shops reasonably often.
There are people on the forum here who are happy to help out with their surplus-to-requirements books when someone like you who is studying asks for help in acquiring some missing titles. I'm sure Walter was merely pointing this out from his own experience.
You say you are from the UK but "recently moved to Hong Kong to do a PhD..." That sounds as if you went for that specific purpose. Was it not possible to study in this country I wonder?
Good luck in your quest. I recently saw the last title with dustwrapper at £50. It was a first edition - all the subsequent editions are paperbacks.
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Wolfgang »

Nina, I'm sorry you felt insulted by walter raleigh's reply, and I agree he seems to have misunderstood the context of your message and the choice of his words was poor. His posts (so far I've read them) are usually much better than this. I'm pretty sure he would have apologised (and probably will) for jumping to conclusions.
The way you handled it casts a negative light on you I'm afraid. If it hadn't been for your last sentence, especially the second part, your reply would have been sufficient as a clarification and it would have brought the message home as well.
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nina
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by nina »

I know- I'm sorry. I actually logged back on now to try and delete my last message! I was in a rather bad mood and unfortunately took his comments rather badly. On reflection I know that I over-reacted, and can only apologise, I was just suddenly quite angry that he should suppose that I was looking for pity, but again this is due to my own bad mood rather than him. Apologies Walter, please ignore my comments above.
There are many reasons why I chose to come to Hong King for my PhD, ranging from the supervisory support and specific people at the university here, the funding, the idea that the books are deemed atypically English (since HK was British owned until 1997 I thought this might offer some interesting perspectives).
Again, I can only apologise for taking out my bad mood on Walter and hope that he accepts my apology.
Huffin and Puffin did seem to be perfectly lovely names
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

You did specify first editions, Nina, which are expensive. As already pointed out, you can pick up lots of Five books in paperback for next to nothing, but your requirments are for specific text.

I too think you have taken Walter's post out of context. And been rather abrupt.

I don't think that's the way to go if you want people to help in anyway they can whether it be to supply you with a book, or just advice.

I wish you well in your finds.

I see since you have apologised. Good for you, in true Blyton fashion too. Maybe the moral here is never to text, tweet, or post anything if one is not in the right frame of mind. :)
8)
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Moonraker »

Hi Nina - and good luck with finding your books. Regarding deleting posts, you can only do this until someone replies, after that you can't. However, you can edit your posts and remove or alter things you have written. Isn't it amazing how an apology can take the wind out of sails? I admit I was bristling, but after your last post I now feel calm and happy! :D

You don't necessarily need first editions to have the original text, I think I am right in saying that all H&S editions (the (usually) red boarded hardback books) have original texts. I have quite a few duplicates, but I'm not sure which ones they are. I will have a look later and let you know if any are the ones you are looking for.
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I think there is some confusion here and I will try to straighten it out. Collectors of older children's books tend to call each new 'impression' a new edition and I have followed that line with all my bibliographies etc. Researchers and those who really don't collect children's books (but often sell them) sometimes use technically correct terms. It is therefore correct to say that almost all Famous Five hardbacks are first editions and I believe that all Nina wants is a hardback with the original text and it can be a 12th impression for all she cares. New editions only occur when a book is completely reset. Five on a Treasure Island was reset in 1956 in what I refer to as the '12th edition' but to be absolutely technically correct this was the 2nd edition 1st impression. Most of the other hardbacks were not reset and therefore remained as the '1st edition' for their entire run although some might be a 16th impression!
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Fiona1986 »

I'm a collector of sorts but I'd call my copies first editions if they were a first first or a first sixteenth. Just sounds better and makes me feel better about spending all that money on them.

I understood Nina's message actually, though perhaps it took a little reading between the lines as I knew she just wanted any firsts and understood she meant that she didn't want to pay £20 postage per book.

I can also see how Walter's message could be taken in the wrong way though as I've read a lot of his messages I know he wouldn't have meant to offend anyone.

That's the problem with posting in the internet, everything is so very open to interpretation!
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by sixret »

I thought you asked specifically for 1st edition. In that case, I have surplus for some titles. Hardbacks with red cloth. Original texts. Will let you know the titles that I have if you are interested. Postage from Malaysia to HK is not too steep, I think. Have to check.
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Fiona1986 wrote:
That's the problem with posting in the internet, everything is so very open to interpretation!
This is true, and so we should therefore not jump to the wrong conclusion before biting someone's head off. :|

8)
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nina
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by nina »

Sorry again- I promise to try not to be so hot-headed in my future posts :oops: I feel awful for reacting in such a horrible and bad-tempered way!
Just to clarify, yes it is the red hardbacked ones I need, I should have been clearer in my initial post. I have always regarded those hardbacks as first editions because they are Blyton's own words, regardless of the impression number, and hadn't actually considered them the other way, so thank you for straightening that out Tony.
Sixret and moonraker, I have all the titles except the 7 listed above. If you do happen to have any of those in surplus I would definitely be interested. :)
Huffin and Puffin did seem to be perfectly lovely names
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Thanks for apologising to Walter, Nina. We all sometimes say things we later regret, and it's nice when people come back and say sorry - it really clears the air.

I'm afraid all my Famous Fives are Knight paperbacks and even some of the very early paperback editions contain changes to the text (e.g. Five On a Treasure Island dating from 1967), so you're wise to stick to fairly early hardbacks. Good luck with the PhD!
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Re: Someone help please? 7 FF books needed

Post by Courtenay »

Have you tried eBay, Nina? It's possible to pick up early editions of Enid Blyton there quite easily and affordably, if you're not worried about dust jackets or the condition of the book. I recently bid for and won a first edition of one of Blyton's Adventure series, in reasonable condition, for only £3.35, not including postage. Of course, prices will likely be higher for rarer or more sought-after books - I don't know if this is the case with FF books - and you would probably want to contact the seller beforehand and ask them what they would charge for postage to Hong Kong. But it would be worth keeping an eye out there and seeing if any of the ones you need come up.
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