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The TRIXIE BELDEN Library
Would you like to - solve mysteries?
belong to a secret club?
ride, swim, travel, go to
parties with the best friends in the world?
Then the wonderful adventures of
Trixie Belden were written just for you!
Don’t miss a single one.
(From the back cover of the deluxe editions.)
INTRODUCTION
While not nearly as well-known as the Nancy Drew series, the Trixie
Belden mystery series probably has even more devoted and passionate
readers. This tousle-haired tomboy, who would rather wear jeans
than anything else, who had chores to do and a younger brother to
babysit, still managed to have lots of adventures - even if she
sometimes got scolded for staying out too long. What other
mystery series talks about who gets to take a shower first (and what
girl or boy growing up in a large family back in the 1950’s when most
houses only had one bathroom couldn’t relate to the line-up for a bath)?
Each reader of the Trixie books probably has a different
favorite: I still remember the first three the best. And
deep inside our bookhouse is a box marked in bold black letters “NOT
FOR SALE!” This contains my daughter’s collection, carefully put
together during her childhood: a complete set ranging from well-loved
and read many times-over copies, barely hanging together, to almost
mint examples of the last 4 titles in the series.
These books were affordable: when I was a girl, I used my
babysitting money to buy the early cellophane editions at the five and
dime - for 50c each. Later on, the series was issued in trade
paperback, with cover prices ranging from 95c to $1.95 (when the final
title was issued in 1986.) My daughter bought most of her
books herself, in the only example she has shown, so far, of any
book-collecting interest.
Collecting all of the Trixie Belden books involves several challenges:
First of all, they have been out of print since 1986, and in the later
years of the series, they were only in print intermittenly. But
perhaps most significant is the difficulty of finding books in
acceptable condition. Not only were these books read and re-read,
several of the formats were designed to be appealing and inexpensive
but not necessarily durable. The glossy cellophane binding is
perhaps the most fragile of them all - but for those of us who
discovered the series in the 50’s, it is also the one most
closely associated with the books. Finally, the entire series was
never issued in one binding, so a collector has to decide where to
focus attention: on first editions, on the binding used originally for
each title, on just two or three bindings for the whole series, on any
binding (since these are to be read!) or on a complete set with
examples in every binding!
A CHECKLIST AND A DESCRIPTION OF
THE FORMATS
#1-6 were written by Julie Campbell Tatham under the name Julie
Campbell; the remaining books were written by several different
authors under the house name Kathryn Kenny. Several of the
different authors have been at least tentatively identified, and they
are shown below
1. The Secret of the Mansion (1948)
2. The Red Trailer Mystery (1950)
3. The Gatehouse Mystery (1951)
4. The Mysterious Visitor (1954)
5. The Mystery Off Glen Road (1956)
6. The Mystery in Arizona (1958)
7. The Mysterious Code (1961) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
8. The Black Jacket Mystery (1961) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
9. The Happy Valley Mystery (1962) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
10 .The Marshland Mystery (1962) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
11. The Mystery at Bob-White Cave (1963) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
12. The Mystery of the Blinking Eye (1963) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
13. The Mystery on Cobbett's Island (1964) -Virginia Bleecher McDonnell
14. The Mystery of the Emeralds (1965) - Virginia Bleecher McDonnell
15. The Mystery on the Mississippi (1965) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
16. The Mystery of the Missing Heiress (1970) - Nicolete M. M. Stack
17. The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest (1977) - Gladys Baker Bond
18. The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper (1977)
19. The Secret of the Unseen Treasure (1977) - Carl H. Rathjen
20. The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road (1978) - Laura French
21. The Mystery of the Castaway Children (1978) - Gladys Baker Bond
22. The Mystery on Mead's Mountain (1978) - Owenita H. Sanderlin
23. The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace (1979) - Owenita H. Sanderlin
24 .The Mystery at Saratoga (1979) - Laura French
25 .The Sasquatch Mystery (1979) - Gladys Baker Bond
26. The Mystery of the Headless Horseman (1979) - Joan Chase Bowden
27 .The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon (1979) - Joan Chase Bowden
28. The Hudson River Mystery (1979) - Kathleen Krull
29. The Mystery of the Velvet Gown (1980) - Joan Chase Bowden
30. The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder (1980) - Joan Chase Bowden
31. The Mystery at Maypenny's (1980) - Joan Chase Bowden
32. The Mystery of the Whispering Witch (1980) - Joan Chase Bowden
33. The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim (1980) - Carl H. Rathjen
34 .The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire (1980) - Laura French
35. The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire (1984)
36. The Mystery of the Antique Doll (1984) - Laura French
37. The Pet Show Mystery (1985) -Laura French
38 .The Indian Burial Ground Mystery (1985)
39. The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost (1986) -Laura French
Also: Mystery Quiz Book #1 (1980) and Mystery Quiz Book #2
(1980)
HARDCOVER formats:
Note: while different publishers are shown below, they are
all imprints used by Western Publishing Company of Racine WI at
varying times.
Also, even while the series remained “in print” there were gaps in the
actual publication of books - so the books were not continuously
available.
1. WITH DUST JACKET (1948-1951 and 1959)
Only the first 3 titles were issued in dustjacket. The paper-covered
boards were rather plain, the books themselves were slightly larger and
thicker than later formats. The first book in the series had two
different bindings in the orginal edition, and was the only one to be
reissued in 1959 in a very different binding and dustjacket.
A. paper covered boards with a line drawing illustration on the
front, dust jackets had wraparound illustrations
Publisher: Whitman
Author: Julie Campbell
Illustrator: Mary Stevens
Titles:
#1 Secret of the Mansion (1948), 248 pages, book #2337 - -
a. red covers with white printing
b. plain brown or dark green cover (no
illustration) and orange printing
#2 Red Trailer Mystery (1950), 248 pages, book #2353 - -
beige covers
#3 Gatehouse Mystery (1951), 240 pages, book #2360 -
- light blue covers
B. variant diamond pattern edition - only 1 title in this format.
Publisher: Golden Press
Author: Julie Campbell
Inside Illustrator: Mary Stevens
Dust Jacket: Herbert Tauss
Book cover is red and deep pink diamond pattern, rear cover of dj
has pictures of the first 8 books in what is described as a new fiction
series for boys and girls. Spine of dustjacket has a diamond
pattern.
#1 Secret of the Mansion (1959), 248 pages, book #205, price on
dustjacket $1.00
2. CELLOPHANE or GLOSSY (1954-1962)
#4-10 were first isued in this format. The dates indicate the
years in which the new titles were first published. Covers had
wraparound illustrations laminated with clear cellophane for a glossy
effect. The first 3 titles used the same art as the dustjackets
on the original editions. Several different endpaper designs were
used; illustrations in duotone: small illustrations at the
beginning of each chapter; full page pictures scattered
throughout the text. This format is very prone to wear: as the covers
become de-laminated, the paper underneath tears easily. Poor
quality paper results in significant toning. All of the books in
this series had 282 numbered pages, followed by 2 pages of advertising.
Publisher: Whitman, starting in 1954
Author: #1-6 Julie Campbell, #7-10 Kathryn Kenny
Illustrator: #1-6 Mary Stevens, #7-10 Paul Frame
#1 - book #1556
#2 - book #1561
#3 - book #1562
#4 (1954) - book #1560
#5 (1956) - book #1563
#6 (1958) - book #1565
#7 (1961) - book #1558
#8 (1961) - book #1578
#9 (1962) - book #1543
#10 (1962) - book #1533
3. CAMEO (1963-1964)
#11-13 were first issued in this format. All new cover
illustrations -each cover had a small cameo of Trixie in the upper left
corner, each cameo was different, There was matt finish to the covers
and they were much sturdier than the cellophane binding, Duotone
chain design endpapers. and The interior illustrations and the
pagination remained the same, but new book numbers were assigned. They
were slightly thinner than the earlier cellophanes. Somewhat hard
to find, since they were only issued for 2 years.
Publisher: Whitman, starting in 1963
Author: #1-6 Julie Campbell, #7-13 Kathryn Kenny
Illustrator: #1-6 Mary Stevens, #7-13 Paul Frame
#1 282 pages, book #2318
#2 282 pages, book #2361
#3 282 pages, book #2362
#4 282 pages, book #2360
#5 282 pages, book #2363
#6 282 pages, book #2365
#7 282 pages, book #2354
#8 282 pages, book #2378
#9 282 pages, book #2307
#10 282 pages, book #2308
#11 (1963) 280 pages, book #2315
#12 (1963) 282 pages, book #2327
#13 (1964) 280 pages, book #2319
4. DELUXE (1965-1967)
#14-15 were first issued in this format. New front cover
illustrations; each back cover had a different small color illustration
and the same blurb about ‘The Trixie Belden library.” Matte finish on
covers, slightly larger size, sturdy binding. The endpapers are
printed on colored stock (red, blue, green) with full color cameos of
Trixie and Honey centered on the left and right sides
respectively. The most attractive and best-produced format.
Full color and duo-tone, full-page illustrations scattered throughout
the books. There are no small illustrations as chapter headers.
Publisher: Whitman 1965-66, Golden 1966-67
Author: #1-6 Julie Campbell , #7-15 Kathryn Kenny
All covers were done by Paul Frame
#1 252 pages, book #2318 (same book number as Cameo edition), illus
Paul Frame
#2 254 pages, book #2361 (same book number as Cameo edition), illus
Paul Frame
#3 254 pages, book #2369 - illustrator Marvin Besunder
#4 252 pages, book #2368 - illustrator Marvin Besunder
#5 252 pages, book #2370 - illustrator Paul Frame
#6 252 pages, book #2371 - illustrator Paul Frame
#7 252 pages, book #2355 - illustrator Haris Petie
#8 252 pages, book #2364 - illustrator Paul Frame
#9 254 pages, book #2357 - illustrator Haris Petie
#10 254 pages, book #2358 - illustrator Paul Frame
#11 254 pages, book #2355 - illustrator Paul Frame
#12 252 pages, book #2359 - illustrator Paul Frame
#13 254 pages, book #2356 - illustrator Haris Petie
#14 (1965) 254 pages, book #2366 - illustrator Paul Frame
#15 (1965) 254 pages, book #2367 - illustrator Haris Petie
5. PLAIN or THIN FORMAT (1970-1971)
#16 was the only title first issued in this format. The
last hardcover trade editions in the US; each cover has a head
and shoulders picture of Trixie in the lower lefthand corner, art has
been updated, and Trixie appears as a somewhat older teenager - thinner
format than the earlier hardcover editions. The type is somewhat
smaller and the lines are more closely spaced than in the earlier
editions (perhaps also done to appeal to slightly older readers.) A
semi-glossy finish to the covers, but the binding is similiar to that
used in the cellophane editions, and very prone to cracking, breaking
or tearing.
This format is described on the back covers as “available now with a
brand new look.” The endpapers have a head and shoulders picture of
Trixie on the left hand side, smaller ones of Honey and the other
B.W.G.s (Bob-Whites of the Glen, the name of the club they formed) are
on the right hand side - in various colors (green, orange, etc.) on a
white background. No illustrations in the text.
Publisher: Whitman, starting in 1970
Author: #1-6 Julie Campbell, #7-16 Kathryn Kenny
Illustrator (covers and endpapers): Larry Frederick
#1 236 pages, book #1524
#2 236 pages, book #1525
#3 234 pages, book #1526
#4 236 pages, book #1532
#5 236 pages, book #1534
#6 234 pages, book #1533
#7 236 pages, book #1540
#8 236 pages, book #1541
#9 212 pages, book #1577
#10 212 pages, book #1578
#11 212 pages, book #1586
#12 212 pages, book #1587
#13 234 pages, book #1521
#14 236 pages, book #1522
#15 234 pages, book #1523
#16 (1970) 236 pages, book #1542
Trade paperback editions were also issued using the same cover
illustration found on the hardcovers.
SOFTCOVER FORMATS
6. OVAL PAPERBACKS (1977-1980)
For those who read the series in the late 70’s and the 80’s this is the
format most closely associated with the Trixie books. It is the
most frequently found, and it has the advantage of being the format
used on the most titles. Beige colored background and
illustration within an oval on the front cover. All covers by Jack
Wacker; no interior illustrations. All were published under
the Golden Book imprint.
#17-34 were first issued in this format
#1 236 pages, book #21524
#2 236 pages, book #21525
#3 234 pages, book #21526
#4 236 pages, book #21532
#5 236 pages, book #21534
#6 234 pages, book #21533
#7 236 pages, book #21540
#8 236 pages, book #21541
#9 212 pages, book #21577
#10 212 pages, book #21578
#11 212 pages, book #21586
#12 212 pages, book #21587
#13 234 pages, book #21521
#14 236 pages, book #21522
#15 234 pages, book #21523
#16 236 pages, book #21542
#17 (1977) 212 pages, book #21588
#18 (1977) 210 pages, book #21589
#19 (1977) 210 pages, book #21590
#20 (1978) 212 pages, book #21591
#21 (1978) 213 pages, book #21592
#22 (1978) 210 pages, book #21593
#23 (1979) 212 pages, book #21594
#24 (1979) 210 pages, book #21595
#25 (1979) 211 pages, book #21596
#26 (1979) 213 pages, book #21597
#27 (1979) 211 pages, book #21598
#28 (1979) 210 pages, book #21599
#29 (1980) 213 pages, book #21550
#30 (1980) 211 pages, book #21551
#31 (1980) 210 pages, book #21552
#32 (1980) 210 pages, book #21553
#33 (1980) 210 pages, book #21554
#34 (1980) 210 pages, book #21555
Some of these titles were also issued using the same cover
illustrations in hardcover in the UK.
7. SQUARE PAPERBACKS (1984-1986)
#35-39 were first issued in this format, and many (but not all)
of the earlier titles were reissued with the new covers which featured
a scene from the story in a square frame with an arched top, and the
number in a small square box on the spine.
Publisher: Golden, starting in 1984
Covers: #7,9,15,21,23,26 Jerry Harston, #29,30,31 Ben Otero, all others
Jody Lee
#35-39 only - black and white inside illustrations by Jim Spence
#1 236 pages, book #21524-5
#2 236 pages, book #21525-5
#3 234 pages, book #21526-5
#4 236 pages, book #21532-5
#5 236 pages, book #21534-5
#6 234 pages, book #21533-5
#7 236 pages, book #21540-5
#8 236 pages, book #21541-5
#9 212 pages, book #21577-5
#15 234 pages, book #21523-5
#20 212 pages, book #21591-5
#21 213 pages, book #21592-5
#23 212 pages, book #21594-5
#26 213 pages, book #21597-5
#29 213 pages, book #21550-5
#30 211 pages, book #21551-5
#32 210 pages, book #21553-5
#33 210 pages, book #21554-5
#34 210 pages, book #21555-5
#35 (1984) 190 pages, book #21556-5
#36 (1984) 188 pages, book #21557-5
#37 (1985) 189 pages, book #21560-5
#38 (1985) 189 pages, book #21561-5
#39 (1986) 189 pages, book #21562-5
AVAILABILITY OF TRIXIE BOOKS
We try to keep as many of the titles in stock, in different formats,
and in acceptably good to fine condition. However, our actual stock
will vary considerably: sometimes we are only able to purchase an
isolated copy, other times we will pick up a number of different books
at one time. If you are interested in completing your collection,
let us know which ones you are looking for, and we will give you
advance notice when new books come in. You can either call us at
1-877-BOOKFEVER or by email at chris@bookfever.com.
copyright 2002 by Christine M. Volk
Note: Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Western
Publishing Co (Golden Books)
Christine Volk & Shep Iiams, Booksellers