Ads · Are Nancy Drew books worth reading?
Browse new releases, best sellers or classics & find your next favourite book. Huge selection of books in all genres. Free UK delivery on eligible orders
- Amazon Prime
Get access to Amazon Prime.
Sign up today!
- Kindle eBooks
Choose from thousands of eBooks
available on Amazon Kindle.
- Customer Reviews
See What Our Customers Have To Say
About Our Products.
- New Releases
Check Out Our Newest Releases.
Get The Latest Gear From GP!
- Children's Books
Discover the best children's
books-at the best prices on the...
- Best Sellers on Kindle
Browse Our Best Selling
Kindle Books.
- Amazon Prime
Compare 1000s of Items and Find the Best Deals on Nancy Drew Books Today. Find the Best Deals on Nancy Drew Books Today.
Search results
Aug 29, 2023 · However, there are a few vintage Nancy Drew books that stand out. Look for these old books the next time you hit up a used bookstore or score a few copies from your grandparents’ childhood collection. Valuable Nancy Drew Books. Approximate Value. The Secret of the Old Clock, First Edition. $500-$1,000+.
- Origins of Nancy Drew Mystery Series Books
- Assembly Line Method of Producing Series Books
- The Nancy Drew Series Books
- Dating Vintage Nancy Drew Mysteries by Their Covers
- Differences Between editions
- What Nancy Drew Collectors Are Looking For
- Value of Vintage Nancy Drew Books
- How to Sell Vintage Nancy Drews
- Other Nancy Drew Products to Consider
- Conclusion
The Nancy Drew series books and many others like them were the brainchild of Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930). As a boy he avidly read Horatio Alger novels about boy heroes, and wrote many of his own stories along a similar vein. He eventually made quite a name for himself selling forty-nine dime novels, but it was his first full-length work, Under D...
By the beginning of the new century, Stratemeyer had developed a system for churning out huge numbers of books by multiple authors, all writing at the same time. He came up with plot lines, 2-page outlines, and a few prescriptive details (e.g., each book had to contain 25 chapters) that could then be assigned to unknowns writing under pseudonyms. H...
In 1929, Stratemeyer sent a proposal for a 16-year old female detective to one of his writers, Mildred Wirt Benson (1905-2002), a 25-year old who went on to write twenty-four volumes under the name Carolyn Keene. An aside: One of the early names Stratemeyer considered for the series was Diana Drew(!). No, it doesn’t sound right does it? But oh how ...
In this photo you see a good selection of the many covers that contained Nancy Drew Mysteries over the years. The oldest style is on the bottom and they grow newer as you move up the stack.
Nancy’s Hair Color
As I mentioned above, Russell Tandy’s Nancy was a blond, while later versions, by Rudy Nappi in particular, reveal her to be a red-head, (strawberry-blond or titian, as she’s referred to in the novels).
Number of Chapters/Pages
Originally, books #1-34 each contained 200+ pages and 25 chapters. Beginning with book #35, the books contained just 180 pages and only 20 chapters. Starting in 1959, the editors went back and revised the first 34 books, whittling them down to the new 180 page, 20 chapter standard. Nancy Drew diehards lament the editing of the earlier books since some of the more descriptive portions of the books landed on the cutting room floor. And to add salt to the wound, the reduction in the size of the...
Cultural Updates
When the original 34 volumes began to be revised in 1959, editors updated cultural elements of the books, including any racially prejudicial terms or incidents, along with outdated technology and anything else that would “date” the books.
Although you won’t find a uniform method for collecting Nancy Drews that appeals to all collectors, a few have set out to collect one of each hard cover ever produced! That is quite an undertaking involving several hundred books. Others collect only certain cover styles, for example, only those with dust jackets or those with yellow matte covers. S...
To be perfectly honest, the average Nancy Drew book doesn’t offer the opportunity to make a whole lot of profit. But considering that they can often be purchased for 50¢ or $1, and that they sell pretty wellfrom my antique booth for $6 each–they are reliable sellers, if not huge money-makers. That said, there are exceptions to that $6 price point. ...
There are huge numbers of old Nancy Drews (and other series books) being bought and sold every day on a variety of platforms, including antique booths, Etsy, and eBay. It pays to experiment with what sells best where (as always!). Here’s my very basic strategy for selling them: 1. Sell matte yellow books from my antique booth for about $5-6 each. 2...
As popular as Nancy Drew has been over the years with young girls, I struggled to find much merchandise related to her brand. Here are a few of the products that I came across: 1. Puzzle (in a canister) depicting Pamela Sue Martin from the 1970’s TV show ($100+) 2. My Nancy Drew Date Book($20+) 3. Cereal premium for Nancy Drew-Hardy Boys, c.1978 ($...
Serious series book lovers will be interested in the “Books from the Basement” podcast in which two friends revisit books they read while growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s. As we celebrate the first woman (and person of color) elected as our nation’s Vice President, it is fitting that we note Mildred Wirt Benson’s words from an introduction to The ...
- Password to Larkspur Lane (#9) Arthur Conan Doyle’s fingerprints are all over this one, but it’s still got that distinctive flair of the best Nancy Drew books!
- The Quest of the Missing Map (#19) Haunted houses, hidden treasure, and twisty family histories make this one a real treat.
- The Mystery at Lilac Inn (#4) Bombs! Sharks! A Nancy Drew impersonator! What more could you want?
- Mystery of the Tolling Bell (#23) I loooove the set-up for this one. So much excitement and suspense to be had!
- The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (Book #25) The Ghost of Blackwood Hall has everything — séances, hoaxes, an abandoned mansion occupied by an organ-playing ghoul, scam artists, hypnotized girls who give their hard-earned money to a fake orphanage, a trip to New Orleans, abductions, quicksand!
- The Password to Larkspur Lane (Book #10) A strange carrier pigeon delivering an even stranger message ("Blue Bells now Singing Horses") kicks off The Password to Larkspur Lane, one of the all-time Nancy Drew greats.
- The Secret of Red Gate Farm (Book #6) Any book that features a cult instantly shoots up to the top of my list. In The Secret of Red Gate Farm, the cult in question wears white hooded robes (yikes) and calls itself the Black Snake Colony.
- The Secret in the Old Attic (Book #21) Everyone knows that the attic is the spookiest part of the house (basements are just terrifying). In this case, Nancy must help a very old, very sad man find missing sheet music that could make him rich, all while dealing with some romantic drama with Ned Nickerson.
- The Clue in the Old Album (Carolyn Keene)
- The Haunted Showboat.
- Mystery of the Ivory Charm (Carolyn Keene)
- The Spider Sapphire Mystery.
If you're here reading these selling tips, then you're halfway to solving the mystery of the vintage Nancy Drew books. You may think you've stumbled upon a very valuable and even a rare Nancy Drew book.
People also ask
Which Nancy Drew books are most valuable?
Are Nancy Drew books rare?
How much is a Nancy Drew book worth?
Where can I find a guide on Nancy Drew?
Is Nancy Drew a good book?
How much did Nancy Drew sell for?
The most collectible and desirable, hence valuable, of all Nancy Drew books are the regular Grosset & Dunlap “Classic” books, Volumes 1 to 56 from 1930 to 1979. These are the ones that collectors desire the most.
Get 3 Audiobooks Free with a 30 day free trial. Start Listening to Any Audiobook. Over 500,000 Titles, 10,000+ Free Audiobooks, and much more. Sign Up Free Right Now.
Start Download of Books. Get It following our Guide. Download Books Now and Install on your device.
