babyboomerbooks

......stories that endure......

 

 

catalogue of Elsie Jeanette Oxenham books
 updated 7th July 2010

Joan, Jen and Joy by Frank Varty in Collins Girls' Annual

The first generation Abbey Girls are Joy, Joan, Jen, Rosamund and Maidlin and they live next door to a ruined Abbey which has a great hold on their lives and imaginations as they strive to live up to the ideals of the long-ago monks.
There's plenty of fun in their lives with school and the Hamlet Club where they learn country dancing and each becomes May Queen.
50 books in the Abbey series, some very rare and impossible to find, leave room for many unforgettable characters and each of us has her own favourite.


I have ransacked op-shops for Abbey books, bid for them on eBay and bought some on my trip to the UK last year.
Some are good, some look a bit old and tired - well, they are over 50 years old!

(I don't have any of the ubiquitous Children's Press versions with their abridged text which removes all the interesting philosophical bits and the dancing.)

If they've got a dust jacket I have given them protective plastic sleeves:
those without djs have gained a scanned dust jacket copied from my own collection and a protective sleeve, so they will look good on your shelf.
(The scanned dj doesn't always match the book eg. a Seagull jacket on an Abbey School book and vice-versa - but they look smart.)

Now they're ready for adoption!

Listed in the reading order suggested by Pat Mayfield and Monica Godfrey:




#02 The Abbey Girls: The Hamlet Girls meet Joan and Joy who are living in a ruined Abbey with Joan's mother. Joan is offered a scholarship to attend Miss Macy's school, but thinks Joy needs it more. A pivotal Abbey story which makes the succeeding books more enjoyable.

OX02/1: Collins 'fat red' no date, looks 1930s, hb with dj GD/GD, small name on fep, foxing on first few pages and closed page edges, clean red boards, clipped dy has some creasing and a small chunk missing top of spine. Coloured frontispiece same as the dj: 'There stood the Abbey Girl'. $200


#04 Schooldays at the Abbey: Jen is new at Miss Macy's school and soon becomes friends with the Abbey Girls and Jandy Mac, who is very interested to see Joan crowned as May Queen - but maybe Jandy Mac is the real owner of the Hall...

OX04/1: Collins 'green and silver star' 1942 hardback without dust jacket, inscription dated 1944 on fep, clean cream pages, tight binding, 3 b& w plates. $50





#06 Stowaways in the Abbey: Jen helps Timothy who is facing a false accusation and finds out the truth about her locket.


OX06/2: Abbey School 1958 hb with dj GD/GD, coloured frontispiece, inscription on fep and foxing, beige pages with tanned edges, chunk missing top rh corner of front dj and 2 cm tear at bottom. $10

 


OX08/1


#08 Strangers at the Abbey: Joan's cousin Rykie comes to stay at the Hall and secretly brings her half-brother Angus to steal Jehane's jewels.


OX08/2: Abbey School 1960 hb with dj VG/VG, coloured frontispiece, cream pages, dj has slightest chipping top and bottom of spine. $10
OX08/7: Seagull 1959 hb with scanned dj FR/--, coloured frontispiece, beige pages with very tanned edges, foxing on both end-papers, triangle cut from fep corner, clean blue boards covered by dj. $4

OX09/1


#09 Selma at the Abbey: Angus brings his girlfriend to stay at the Hall with Joy, Joan and Jen.


#11: The Abbey Girls Go Back to School: "We're doing it all wrong" shrieks Jen and all of them have a wonderful time at the Cheltenham folk-dance school where they learn to do it right and meet the Pixie. There's romance for Joan and Cicely and tragedy for Joy and Jen.

illustrated by Elsie Wood
OX11/1: Collins Clear-Type Press no date, looks 1920s, blue boards show Joy riding Belinda with Jen in the sidecar, fep has been removed exposing the webbing, very clean cream pages, tight binding, clean covers with slight insect damage at edges. One b&w plate: "Jack and Jen were assaulting Joy with pillows." $100



OX16/2


OX16/5


#16 The Abbey Girls in Town: Ruth visits her cousins Mary and Biddy and finds them deeply involved in country dancing and their new friendship with the Abbey girls. Joy has a proposal from "the man next door".

OX16/1: Collins "fat red" 1947 hb with photocopied dj GD/--, coloured, frontispiece "they had tea by the fireside", clean cream pages, inscription and browning on fep, clean red boards. $25
OX16/2: Collins "fat blue" 1947 hb with scanned dj GD/--, coloured, frontispiece "they had tea by the fireside", a presentation plate on the fep, browning on both endpapers, slight foxing on closed page edges, clean blue boards. $25


#18 The Abbey Girls Win Through: Jen is engaged but devastated by news of her mother's death just four months after her father has died. Joy comes home from her honeymoon having left Andrew to go on one last safari - but he doesn't return.






#19 The Abbey Girls at Home: Betty comes to visit Jen at the Hall but is injured and is nursed by Jen and Rosamund. Joy's demands place a strain on everyone and eventually she pulls herself together. Maidlin decides to become her friend rather than her "daughter". Joan comes home from overseas.

OX19/1: Collins "fat beige" 1947 hb with dj GD/GD, coloured frontispiece "the brakes screamed wildly", presentation plate on fep, clean beige boards . $45
OX19/2: Collins Seagull 1948 hb with dj GD/GD, Sunday School pres. plate dated 1949 on fep, very clean smooth pages, top 2cm missing form spine of clipped dj. $20

OX38/1
#38 Maid of the Abbey: Maidlin's singing career is going well and she still has time to look after the twins while Joy is away. A new nursery governess turns out to have a voice too and becomes Maidlin's protegee. Love waits in the wings for Maidlin!

OX38/1: Seagull 1957 hb with scanned dj VG/--, name on fep, coloured frontispiece 'Lindy flung out one arm' (and once again someone is injured rescuing a twin...) lovely clean cream pages and clean blue boards $10


OX39/1


OX39/2


#39 Jandy Mac Comes Back: with her daughter Littlejan who wants to go to school at Miss Macy's. But Joan has just had a baby, so Rosamund whisks them off to stay at the castle where Jandy Mac prevents baby Hugh from being kidnapped.

OX39/1: Abbey School 1959 hb with dj GD/GD, coloured frontispiece, "Tansy looking troubled, said goodnight and crept away to bed", name and slight foxing on fep, also on closed page edges and bep, dj has chipping at top and bottom of spine and slight edgewear, distinctive 1950s art-work with jaunty scarf on dj. $10
OX39/4: Seagull 1948 hb with scanned horse dj GD/--, Sunday School pres. plate dated 1952 on fep, clean cream pages, clean blue boards. $6
OX39/5: Seagull 1948 hb with scanned dj POOR/--, name, a hole and foxing on fep, foxing on closed page edges, binding has been strengthened with a pasted slip of paper, blue boards with a darkened spine. $3

OX40/2

#40 Two Joans at The Abbey: Jandy Mac and Littlejan come to stay at the Hall and Littlejan and Jansy make an important discovery for the Abbey but are injured in the process. Maidlin is shopping for her trousseau.

OX42/1

OX42/4


#42 Robins at the Abbey: Joy is annoyed that Robin has inherited Plas Quellyn in Wales instead of it coming to one of her sons, but when Robin is in trouble, Joy is the first to help her.

OX42/1: Seagull 1951 hb with scanned dj GD/--, ex-library with stamp and name on on fep and back end-paper removed, clean beige pages, clean blue boards. $8



OX48/1



#48 A Dancer From the Abbey: Damaris plans to return to dancing to Rachel's disappointment and after 6 months therapy she has a triumphant return to the stage. But love intervenes and she decides to marry Brian.

OX48/1: Seagull 1956 hb with dj GD/GD, coloured frontispiece "they climbed the stony track", a written name and a stamped name, clean beige pages and clean blue boards. Unclipped dust jacket has a chunk missing from top front which has been mended from underneath with a scanned piece - can't see it at a quick glance - and edgewear. $15

NON-ABBEY

OXSS: Schoolgirls and Scouts: Collins hardback without original dust jacket, not ex-library, GD/--, no date given, could be 1920s. There is an inscription and a small book-shop stamp on the fep, paper remnants on the inside board covers as if a paper cover was once glued, slight foxing on closed page edges, clean cream pages, tight binding and clean red board covers stamped in black. It comes in a pretty photocopied dustjacket to make the book look nice on your shelf. Colour-plate frontispiece: "Mysie scrambled up the rocks at the side of the glen".

We meet characters from "A Holiday Queen" as the Buchanan family moves to Scotland to live with cousin Janie. $100