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Foreign dustjackets
Foreign edition dust jackets
On this page are featured from Norway cover art from various series books including Biff Brewster, Rick Brant, Ken Holt, Connie Blair, Judy Bolton, X Bar X Boys, and Bret King. As seen on this page and from the Happy Hollisters artwork on another page of this web site, there is no rhyme or reason to the selection of cover art by Norweigian publishers. Either the artwork is very similar to the US covers (Biff Brewster, Happy Hollisters) or is very different (Rick Brant, Bret King). The more unique the cover art the more in demand these books are.  
Biff Brewster, Brazilian Gold Mine Mystery
Biff Brewster, Mystery of the Mexican Treasure
Biff Brewster, Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls
Bret King, Range Rodeo Mystery
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Connie Blair, The Clue in Blue
Judy Bolton, Mysterious Half Cat
X Bar X Boys, Hunting the Prize Mustangs
Left is the Norwegian version of Ken Holt, The Clue of the Marked Claw. The artwork is an exact duplicate of the US version in content but it appears to be slightly redone. The Rick Brant books to the right and below are nothing similar to the US versions. In fact, even a seasoned Rick Brant collector might not know these are Rick Brant books if the author's signature was not included.
Rick Brant, The Rocket's Shadow
Rick Brant, 100 Fathoms Under
Rick Brant, Scarlet Lake Mystery
Rick Brant, The Lost City
Harriet Adams vs Mildred Wirt; Both were Carolyn Keene!
continued from page one
As her granddaughter points out, Harriet had legal rights to claim the Keene name. But the question of moral rights is equal because when  Harriet and the Syndicate came out of the closet, Harriet had her fingers on almost every single Nancy Drew volume, from outlining and editing the originals to rewriting or writing the later volumes.
    When most of the publicity surrounding Harriet was published, 1960-1980, Harriet had been in total control of Nancy Drew books, writing every single volume being published through those years. Now, if Harriet ever claimed she wrote the original stories, she was lying. But I have never seen evidence of this.
    The facts are, that by the 1960s, Mildred Wirt’s Nancy Drews stories were pretty much out of print. Her Nancy did not exist anymore, relegated to old book stores. In fact, as a child of those years, I suspect most of Nancy Drew stories I read were the revised. I truly can’t remember which ones I read. I know I collected the yellow spine books, long before I saw a dust jacketed one from the 30s or 40s. So, I believe a lot of today’s collectors in my generation, probably grew up on the revised stories.
    While I am in the majority opinion that the original stories were best, I doubt children growing up after me would have enjoyed the early Nancys.
    It is my opinion that Harriet Adams not only kept Nancy Drew going through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, but she in fact kept her going through today. The revised stories appealed to a new generation that still collects Nancy Drew today.
    What I think is ironic about the whole issue is that Harriet Adams enjoyed great publicity and fame from the early revelations about the Stratemeyer Syndicate, but Mildred Wirt has claimed that fame after Harriet’s death. Miss Lum is correct in stating that public opinion has been swayed by the huge publicity about Wirt’s early writings. If Mildred Wirt took advantage of this swell of information, whether deserved or not, I think any injustice performed on her part can be excused by her advance years of age.
    I think the facts prove that Mildred Wirt didn’t think much of her work on Nancy Drew and really had no great desire to be showcased as “Carolyn Keene.” Except for protesting lower pay for her work in the 1930s, Mildred Wirt didn’t have much concern about being known as one of many people who can claim they wrote Nancy Drew.
    Harriet Adams could have been more forthright in revealing the names of the various Nancy Drew writers. She thought that it was important not to disappoint young readers with the revelation that there was more than one person who wrote the Nancy Drew stories. Frankly, the only people who care about this revelation are people of my generation, adults who are still buying children’s books and reading them.
    I imagine a young girl of 9 years walking into a Borders bookstore and seeing the Nancy Drew volumes for sale in the children’s section. I wonder which volumes she would buy: the paperback ones; the yellow spine (revised texts); or the Apple reprints of Nancy Drew written primarily by Mildred Wirt. I don’t think there is a doubt today’s young girls would be buying the newer versions. That same girl, 20 years later, who really was affected by Nancy Drew, might read internet stories about the early Nancys and Mildred Wirt. She might be led to eBay to buy some of those stories. She might even toast Mildred Wirt for her work. But in fact, it was Harriet Adams that was most responsible for bringing Nancy Drew into the 21st Century.
    Finally, one more ironic footnote. The 2003 Nancy Drew Calendar published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, features 12 Nancy Drew cover art work mostly of the Harriet Adams’ revised or original stories. Yet, the calendar notes on the back that “Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson who, writing under the name Carolyn Keene, wrote the original Nancy Drew books.”
    Miss Lum has right to be upset about the downplaying of her grandmother’s role in the creation and sustenance of Nancy Drew. Hopefully, more time and research will continue to reveal the true role Harriet Adams played in maintaining the Stratemeyer Syndicate over a half century.
    I think there is plenty of time to give appropriate credit to her and Mildred Wirt. With both ladies now deceased, fans and scholars alike should stop debating the issue and be thankful for what we have: a wealth of children’s popular fiction that still entertains today!

 

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