~from Ami

Indulge me, I've wanted to do this for awhile. I can't seem to get my Christmas cards out this year, but I have found time to list the antique Nancy Drews I own, in no particular order:

Blue Bound Nancys:

Mystery of the Fire Dragon (Title page says, in red pen: Beverly Wilson 341 Reata. Pages are falling out)

The Clue of the Black Keys (Title page says, in crayon: By Jane L.W. to Bev.Sue.W., also my first name is scrawled on the front cover.)

Yellow Bound Nancys:

The Hidden Staircase (one of the first and one of my favorites!)

The Bungalow Mystery (front cover is ripped off, sticker in corner says $1.95 with $1.00 penciled over that!)

The Mystery at Lilac Inn (another favorite- in perfect condition! But even at age nine, I wondered what father could possibly not tell the difference between his own daughter and an imposter. I mean, really.)

The Sign of the Twisted Candles (Very good condition. I don't remember ever reading this one. Says "HEIDI" in permanent red marker on inside page.)

Password to Larkspur Lane (perfect condition)

The Message in the Hollow Oak (This one is almost ruined with some mold. Note to self: Clean the Nancys)

The Phantom of Pine Hill (Ned's on the cover of this one- woo-woo!)

The Spider Sapphire Mystery (Also has some mold on bottom of book. This was one of my favorites.)

The Double Jinx Mystery (don't remember reading this one, publish date is 1973 and the cover picture is, like, groovy)

The Sky Phantom (Nancy in a plane! Inset illustration is a cowboy tied to a tree, demanding "Untie me!" to Nancy, Bess, and George)

Mystery of Crocodile Island (ND saves drowning children and feeds reptiles with great slabs of raw Kansas City strips)

The Clue of the Leaning Chimney (I have this one displayed in my cubicle at work.)

Moonstone Castle Mystery (This and Mirror Bay were my favorites, too!)

The Secret of Mirror Bay (Loved it!)

It's hard to find Nancys, especially the blue bound ones. The ones I have from childhood are not in very good shape, shame on me as a collector of fine popular literature. But I do run across the yellow bound books in flea markets from time to time. As long as they are pre-1975 I will buy them. At one point during my life, it was my sad misfortune to store the Nancys in a basement.

I have just today thrown away four of them which never quite recovered from ttheir trip to the basement: The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk (1940!), The Mystery of the Fire Dragon(1961), The Mystery of the Ivory Charm (1936!!), and The Strange Message in the Parchment(1977- Oops, it appears I have violated my self-imposed pre-1975 rule). The first three in that list were my all time absolute favorites, I feel terrible that I can't get them clean.