Sunday, January 10, 2010

"Beverly Gray at the World's Fair"... A truly rare book!

The Beverly Gray series has many followers and justifiably so. Published between 1934 and 1955, this 26 volume series follows the adventures of a young girl, first as a college student, then continues on and follows her exploits as a reporter for a New York newspaper. In addition, early in the series she takes a world cruise that takes three books to complete. Her adventures continue upon her return, and she becomes quite the girl sleuth in the ensuing years. The books have a continuity that makes one want to read the books in order. Some call the Beverly Gray books a sort of soap opera. Relationships are built, and characters become more developed as the saga progresses.
Originally published by the A.L. Burt company, the book rights were bought by Grosset and Dunlap after the first eight books had been published. These early books are somewhat hard to find in their original printings and dust jackets. When Grosset and Dunlap bought the book series, they decided not to reissue the title Beverly Gray at the World's Fair. Set in the Chicago World's Fair of 1934, the book was seen as dated by the new publishers. As a result, there were only a few printings of World's Fair, and the book was allowed to go out of print. The events in this volume were fairly significant to the series, and readers who were not aware of this missing title detected a gap in the continuity. Author Clair Blank offered to rewrite the book to alleviate the problem, but Grosset and Dunlap was not interested. Beverly Gray on a World Cruise, originally number seven in the series was reprinted as number six by Grosset and Dunlap, and World's Fair slipped out of circulation.
There have only been two reprints done over the years of this title. American Web Books, a division of Applewood Books, reprinted the book in 2003. As a result, this title is sought after not only by Beverly Gray fans, but series book collectors as well. I have a copy I bought from AWB, but I do not have an original. Several copies pop up from time to time, but the price tends to be high each time the book is offered. I have heard of this title selling for as much as $1000.00, so it can be costly to grab a copy. Of course, one can get lucky and find it somewhere a lot cheaper. If you ever see it at an affordable price, you should buy it. Resale value alone makes this title a very collectible book.
I'll talk more about this series and the fun of reading it in my next post.

14 comments:

  1. I love Beverly Gray! As I have stated in the past, it is my favorite of all of the series that I first read as an adult. That is saying a lot!

    I estimate that it is worth paying as much as $500.00 for a nice condition copy of World's Fair with its original dust jacket with an unfaded spine. While some people have paid more occasionally, those high prices of $1,000 and higher are insane. Most copies have faded spines, so those should sell for under $400. I have sometimes seen copies with faded spines sell for in the $200 to $300 range.

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  2. I'd love to find one cheaper, but due to its scarcity, I'll probably never find it!!

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    1. I have an original i am looking to sell. I can be reached at 9184402357 thanks, shannon

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  3. Hi,
    I live in Australia and my only chance is eBay to track down this book and I bid on one a year back but was pipped in the last second for it. That was for around $260. It was going to be my big Christmas present. lol.
    I have never seen the applewood version for sale. Would dearly love to read it as it is the only one I have to still read from this series and I LOVE the Beverly Gray Series. Definitely my favorite all time series but have had to buy most of them from America as I have only ever picked up the later 1950s Clover books versions in Australia.

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  4. Hi,
    I see that these posts are all older posts and I just happened to stumble on this site while doing a search for 'Beverly Grey' 'World's Fair'. I have been looking for a place where someone might be interested in purchasing this book that I own. It's the one pictured above 'Beverly Gray at the World's Fair. It is in very nice condition with the dust jacket. I've had it stored away in a Ziploc bag. Is there anyone here who would be interested in purchasing it?

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    1. I'd be interested in talking with you further- Contact me at ozmite@aol.com

      Jack

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  5. I also stumbled upon this site while searching for "Beverly Gray at the World's Fair".
    I also have a copy that I would like to sell. No dust jacket but very good condition.
    Email me at: karentrodriguez@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing this book.

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    1. I bought mine at a Estate Sale for a price that would make the news. I was surprised by the quality. It is now sealed up in plastic. Need to sell it at a good price. Has dust jacket in remarkable condition.

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  7. Never sold any books before on-line any suggestions.
    I have over 3000 books. Most are on Aviation. Some rare books also.

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  8. I will be posting my rare Beverly Gray at the Worlds Fair on Ebay. My email address is markehlers87@yahoo.com if anyone is interested. I have one of the private book collections on aviation also.

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  9. I will be posting my rare Beverly Gray at the Worlds Fair on Ebay. My email address is markehlers87@yahoo.com if anyone is interested. I have one of the private book collections on aviation also.

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  10. I own a perfect condition unused for about 50 years a BEVERLY GRAY AT THE WORLDS FAIR original copy no fading or major missing cover parts all good condition

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