The texts to the first 34 Nancy Drew books come in two versions--original and revised. The original texts were 25 chapters and around 200 plus pages. Original texts too, included prejudices and stereotyping of the times. However, this has been blown out of proportion by those who haven't actually picked up an original and read it. This kind of thing is not rampant in these books! The main reason for the revising of these books was actually monetary--it was cheaper for Grosset & Dunlap to publish books with less pages. Beginning in 1959, the texts were revised over a period of time up until 1977. The revisions have a format of 20
chapters and around 180 pages. The revisions shortened the books and left out a lot of the prejudices and stereotypes
from the original text volumes and really homogenized the characters. Slang was removed in some instances that was outdated and also things like "electric lights." In revising the first 34 books, they also quickened the pace of the texts. The originals really develop the story, the
scenes, and the characters in much more detail than do the revised texts. Consequently, most collectors who grew up with
the originals would not have the revised texts for anything! Those who grew up reading the revised texts, and probably
not realizing they were revised, are enjoying the originals as well but tend to sometimes prefer the revisions they grew up with. For an analysis of the originals and the revisions,
visit the Nancy Drew Revealed section for the article,
Revising an Original which compared the original text of The Secret of the Old Clock to the revised text.
Volume #'s 35-56 were issued with only one text--of 20 chapters and 180 or so pages. These were never revised--they
were written at the same time as the other volumes were being revised, so there was no need for a revision.
In her Girl Sleuth on the Couch,
Betsy Caprio notes that there were 8 volumes that were revised and all new stories were
written. For example, in volume #4, The Mystery at Lilac Inn, in the original,
the inn itself was only the scene of a purse theft. In the revised, it was the scene for
the mystery--many activities revolved around the inn. Some of the characters were changed
as well. These were volume #'s 2, 4-5, 11-12, 14, 17-18.
There were 6 with minor title changes--volume #'s 5, 10, 17-18, 23, and 29.
These minor changed include dropping a 'the' or changing an 'at' to an 'of'.
In my reading and re-reading of the original v. revised texts, I have noted that
although those 8 previously mentioned volumes were revised with virtually all new
stories, all of the other revisions had some added or subtracted plot elements and scenes
as well.
The following table notes which years that the original texts of volume #'s 1-34
were revised. Also an '*' by a volume number means that is a text that when revised
was substantially changed with an all new story. A '+' sign next to a volume number
indicates that when it was revised there was a minor title change.
| Volumes: | Revision Date: |
| 1 | 1959 |
| 2* | 1959 |
| 3 | 1960 |
| 4* | 1961 |
| 5* + | 1965 |
| 6 | 1961 |
| 7 | 1962 |
| 8 | 1968 |
| 9 | 1968 |
| 10 + | 1966 |
| 11* | 1965 |
| 12* | 1972 |
| 13 | 1974 |
| 14* | 1970 |
| 15 | 1972 |
| 16 | 1969 |
| 17* + | 1976 |
| 18* + | 1971 |
| 19 | 1969 |
| 20 | 1972 |
| 21 | 1970 |
| 22 | 1973 |
| 23 + | 1973 |
| 24 | 1977 |
| 25 | 1967 |
| 26 | 1967 |
| 27 | 1967 |
| 28 | 1968 |
| 29 + | 1968 |
| 30 | 1969 |
| 31 | 1974 |
| 32 | 1974 |
| 33 | 1975 |
| 34 | 1975 |
| Volumes: | Authors: |
| 1 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 2 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 3 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 4 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 5 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Grace Grote |
| 6 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 7 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 8 | O: Walter Karig
R:Harriet Adams |
| 9 | O: Walter Karig
R:Patricia Doll |
| 10 | O: Walter Karig
R:Patricia Doll |
| 11 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 12 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Grace Grote |
| 13 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 14 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 15 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 16 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 17 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 18 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Harriet Adams |
| 19 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 20 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 21 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 22 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 23 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 24 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 25 | O:Mildred A. Wirt
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 26 | O:George Waller, Jr.(Harriet Adams)
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 27 | O:Margaret Scherf
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 28 | O:Wilhelmina Rankin
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 29 | O:Alma Sasse
R:Ann Shultes |
| 30 | O:Mildred A. Wirt Benson
R:Pricilla Baker-Carr |
| 31 | O:Harriet Adams
R:June Dunn |
| 32 | O:Charles Strong
R:Ann Shultes |
| 33 | O:Harriet Adams
R:Ann Shultes |
| 34 | O:Harriet Adams
R:Mary Fisher |
| 35 | Harriet Adams |
| 36 | Harriet Adams |
| 37 | Harriet Adams |
| 38 | Harriet Adams |
| 39 | Harriet Adams |
| 40 | Harriet Adams |
| 41 | Harriet Adams |
| 42 | Harriet Adams |
| 43 | Harriet Adams |
| 44 | Harriet Adams |
| 45 | Harriet Adams |
| 46 | Harriet Adams |
| 47 | Harriet Adams |
| 48 | Harriet Adams |
| 49 | Harriet Adams |
| 50 | Harriet Adams |
| 51 | Harriet Adams |
| 52 | Harriet Adams |
| 53 | Harriet Adams |
| 54 | Harriet Adams |
| 55 | Harriet Adams |
| 56 | Harriet Adams |
