What is it? When was it published? What formats came out first and then later on? This graphic above is your number one guide to figuring out the classic Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series of books 1-56 published from 1930 to 1979. Click on the image for a larger view or open it in another tab and enhance the size - then print and use it to help you identify what you have and use it when you're out and about book hunting too.
The best thing you can do to help you identify your Nancy Drew books is to see what decade they are from using the format chart above. Narrow down the time period in which your book was published by the type of book it is, the endpapers it has, and other format information listed above in the graphic image.
To determine the printing year in general, look at lists inside and on the outside of the books or the dust jackets, but avoid the copyright or title page - they are not helpful. Check lists of book titles on any of the following - dust jacket flaps, back of the DJ and inside the book in pre-text or post-text lists and ads. If you have a yellow spine picture cover, same for that - lists inside in front and back and on the back of the book itself too.
The last listed Nancy Drew book in 99% of cases is your clue to when the book was printed. For example, if you have a book - we'll say it's The Secret of the Old Clock - and it has a dust jacket, on the front flap, if for example it lists to The Scarlet Slipper Mystery, it was printed around 1954 when the Scarlet Slipper was first released. To figure out when books were printed, here's a handy page at my Nancy Drew Sleuth website which lists the book titles and dates when they were first published and revised.
Remember, the copyright date is a "red herring" - it never changed with each printing, only when a text was revised and only the first 34 were ever revised. You have to go by lists of books, not the copyright date.
And finally, above on the right side of the graphic, there's other types of Nancy Drew books you might have that are different from the classic 56 basic set. There's book club editions, foreign editions, library editions, Applewood Books reprints, and paperbacks of the various modern spin-offs and the continuation in the classics of 57-175. You can learn about all of these editions and types of books, the classic series and the spin-off paperback series at the Nancy Drew Sleuth website in the "Nancy Drew Books" section.
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