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Nancy Drew

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File:TheSecretoftheOldClock.png
The Secret of the Old Clock, the first Nancy Drew mystery

Nancy Drew is a fictional character, the heroine detective of a popular mystery series for girls. The series was created in 1930 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.

Series history

The series was ghostwritten in the early years primarily by Mildred Wirt Benson. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who succeeded her father Edward Stratemeyer as the head of the syndicate, contributed a number of volumes and oversaw the substantial revisions begun in the fifties.

Over 200 million books have been sold worldwide. Many people collect the series, which has gone through several formats over the years. The books have been in print continuously since 1930, however, many titles were revised or changed completely in the 1950s and 1960s. All titles currently in print are known as "revised text". Starting in the early 1980s, the original series was extended with new volumes published in paperback, and in the late 1980s a new series was created for Simon & Schuster under the epithet The Nancy Drew Files, starting with Secrets Can Kill. In recent years, the spinoff series Nancy Drew on Notebooks, Nancy Drew: On Campus have been published. The Nancy Drew Girl Detective series is the newest version of tales about the titian-haired sleuth.

Nancy Drew also appeared with the Hardy Boys in the 36 volume Supermystery series, plus a Be Your Own Detective series (written in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure series).

Character evolution

Original Nancy, 1930 to 1940

The original Nancy, as introduced in 1930, is the 16-year-old daughter of lawyer Carson Drew. In the early stories, Nancy's mother died when Nancy was ten years old; this age is changed to three in later stories. With no living mother, Nancy is clearly in charge of household affairs of the family's large, three-story brick house, including giving orders to the housekeeper, Mrs. Gruen.

When the 16-year-old Nancy is first introduced, she has already completed high school, and her many friends frequently visit her house. The first of these friends, Helen Corning, appears in the first four volumes, but is never a sleuthing companion. Nancy is often joined in her sleuthing activities by her close friends George Fayne (a girl) and Bess Marvin, cousins who have opposite personalities, George being a bit of a tomboy, while Bess is the most traditionally feminine character. Helen returns briefly in the original volumes 8 and 10 (which were not written by Benson). In these volumes, she has changed her personality to be more like George Fayne. Helen disappears when Benson resumes ghostwriting with volume 11, but returns from Europe (a favorite vacation spot, for series books chums) for one final appearance in volume 20. Boyfriend Ned Nickerson is introduced in volume seven, and apparently can miss classes at Emerson University to help Nancy regularly, appearing in nearly every story.

Nancy is blonde and bold! She becomes involved in mysteries without always being invited. She carries a gun in two volumes, and actually uses it against dangerous animals at Shadow Ranch, drives at high speeds on gravel roads, breaks and enters, trespasses, sneaks about, opens locked doors and drawers, and is rather high-handed with adults, including law enforcement, from time to time. She is more courageous than her friends, and undaunted by money or time spent in running down a clue. Her servant, Hannah, worries, but is clearly the employee in these early tales. Nancy is unhindered by the Great Depression or World War II; she is never depicted as having the financial troubles of those she helps by solving mysteries. Ned is so enamored by Nancy, he allows her to wear the pants in the relationship; she frequently changes their plans to involve sleuthing.

Tween-age Nancy

Nancy begins to evolve to being less brazen, and also less obviously affluent, early in the 1940's, around volume 18, The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion. Her style begins to become a bit more casual, and she doesn't doggedly pursue angles that endanger herself greatly, or her friends. Her car changes makes and models a few times, finally becoming a convertible in the post-war era. She pursues hobbies more, particularly art and music. Although still illustrated as very glamourous during the war years, this gives way to more casual, normal teen appearance by the end of the decade. Her age also gradually changes to eighteen. Many of Nancy's mysteries involve her application of knowledge gained from avid reading, or from consultation with teachers, professors, or other experts, and this is passed on to the readers, a trend which grows and continues to the end of the series. Covers began to replace the flapper style favored on early jackets with a conservative, more classic appearance character. Sweater and skirt ensembles, as well as a pageboy hairstyle are introduced by artist Bill Gillies, who updated 10 covers and ilustrated three new jackets from 1950 to 1952. Gillies invents a modern-era trademark as a spine symbol: Nancy in side profile with a quizzing glass. Benson writes her last volume for the series, in 1953, The Clue of the Velvet Mask.

Revisionist Nancy

Rudy Nappi, artist from 1953 to 1979, illustrates a more average teenager, but still in very preppy, conservative clothing. Interal illustrations were returned to the books beginning in 1954. In 1957, most Stratemeyer Syndicate books dropped to around 180 pages in length. Nancy's hair changes to strawberry-blonde or titian by the end of the decade. Stories begin to involve more travel away from River Heights, and Nancy's hometown is now more metropolitan and less rural, and closer to New York and other East Coast destinations. George Fayne develops into a more personable, but still masculine girl, while Bess becomes obsessed with boys and food. George and Bess are given their own respective boy friends, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans, both chums of Ned Nickerson. When the original stories began to be updated in 1959, Helen Corning became an older friend of Nancy's, and is bolder than the original Helen, serving as actual sleuthing sidekick in the first four volumes. The stage is also set to explain her departure from regular involvement with Nancy. Helen becomes engaged; in her last appearance before she is married, she is planning her wedding while she helps Nancy sleuth. She and her husband Jim Archer appear in some later volumes, and revised versions of several stories as well.

Nancy's boyfriend is (usually) Ned Nickerson who often lends his support and help, while George calls on her on-off counterpart Buck Rodman, later Burt Eddleton, and Bess on Dave Evans. Burt and Dave are introduced in the early 1950s. Hannah Gruen, in the revisions, has been a motherly figure to Nancy since age three, and at times, restricts her rash actions. Aunt Eloise Drew, a smart New Yorker, is frequently either a chaperone, or hostess to Nancy's New York adventures.

In 1962, all Grosset and Dunlap books become "picture covers," to reduce costs. Several of the 1940's illustrations are updated by Rudy Nappi, but contain the old story. They are gradually updated, and in many cases, the stories only bear the same title as the original, with completely new plots and settings. For example, the original Lilac Inn really is only a setting for a crime. In the 1961 revision, it is the setting for almost all of the story. Settings in the series involve travel to several different regions in the United States, and also international destinations, including France, Peru, Scotland, Hong Kong, and Africa.

None of the stories in hardcover issue today are older than 1957.

The Quest for Carolyn Keene

Due to confusion and difficulties in protecting the secrets of series production, ghostwriters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate signed away all rights to authorship or future royalties, and all correspondence was handled through Hariett S. Adams' office. Walter Karig tried to claim rights with the Library of Congress in 1933, something which angered the Syndicate. In 1980, dissatisfied with the lack of creative control at Grosset, and the lack of publicity for the Hardy Boys' 50th anniversary in 1977, Adams switched publishers to Simon and Schuster, which would also make the American versions available in mass-market paperback. Grosset and Dunlap filed suit against the Syndicate and the new publishers, claiming some control over publishing as their firm provided illustrations. Although Adams had written many of the titles after 1953, and edited others, her authorship of Nancy Drew came under fire. She filed a countersuit, claiming the case was in poor taste and frivolous. Millie Benson was called to testify about her work for the Syndicate. The court ruled that Grosset had the rights to publish the original series as they were in print in 1980, but did not own characters or trademarks. Further, any new publishers chosen by Adams were completely in their right to print original titles. Adams was rumored to be embarrassed about the negative publicity of the trial; many adult collectors and fans believed her character to be less after the trial. After her death, her partners continued, finally selling the entire Syndicate to Simon and Schuster. An acknowledgementto Mildred Benson was added to Grosset copyright pages; they currently print the original 56 hardcovers and recently began publishing out-of-print titles originally issued by Simon and Shuster. The original Nancy Drew series added the last new title in 2003.

Special editions

The Reader's Club or Cameos: Nancy Drew was issued as a book club feature, the Nancy Drew Reader's Club, from 1959 to early 1961. Several volumes, no. 30-35, were issued with new illustrations by artist Polly Bolian. The volumes matched Grosset's other Doubleday Book Club publication, Young Library. A full color jacket illustration was repeated as the frontispiece, and double-page pen and ink drawings highlighted the texts. References or notices for other volumes, and volume numbering, was removed from the text and the jackets. The series saw six more volumes, 36, 27-29, and revised 1-2 added in 1960. Plans for additional titles were abandoned after two years and the series ceased publication in early 1961. The volumes are highly desired by todya's collectors due to their original artwork.

Regular Book Club Editions:

Nancy Drew was issued in the yellow-spine picture format, as a book club, in 1962. The back covers were solid yellow, and spines feature no volume numbers. "Book Club Edition" appears on the title page. The entire series in print was not issued in this format; only volumes 1-34 were issued. In the 1970's, a book club offer was available directly from the publisher, but these volumes are exactly the same as regularly purchased volumes. They were simply mailed on schedule to the subscriber.

Twin Thriller:

Nancy Drew had two-volumes in one published in the 1970's. These are collected for their uniqueness; evidence indicates however that libraries and schools seemed to be targeted for the marketing of these books. Covers featured geometric clover designs on lilac grey, with a vignette from one of the two volumes' original cover art. All of the volumes are sequential, i.e. 1-2, 3-4, except for the final two issued. 17 and 24 appear together as one, as they were not revised until the mid 1970's.

Books in the series

Series list of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series:

Other Nancy Drew series include Nancy Drew on campus, Nancy Drew: girl detective, Nancy Drew files, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mysteries, and Nancy Drew notebooks (which feature an 8 year old Nancy Drew). The latest series, which is also in the form of graphic novels, is also titled Nancy Drew; girl detective and is the only series that features a different author than Carolyn Keene.

Pseudonym Carolyn Keene

All Nancy Drew books are published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene regardless of actual author. The name Carolyn Keene has also been used to author a shorter series of books entitled The Dana Girls. This series features female detective sisters and is a kind of crossbreed of The Hardy Boys (detective brothers) and Nancy Drew (female detective).

Series in film and television

Actress Bonita Granville portrayed the character of Nancy Drew in four movies in the 1930s. A television series called The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries appeared on television in the from 1977 to 1979 and starred Pamela Sue Martin as the girl detective. Another brief series appeared in 1995. In 2003, ABC broadcast a TV film featuring Maggie Lawson as Nancy Drew.

Warner Bros. Pictures will reportedly shoot a new Nancy Drew film, Nancy Drew: The Mystery in Hollywood Hills, directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Emma Roberts as Nancy Drew, in early 2006.[1]

Series in computer games

Several Nancy Drew titles have been adapted and released as computer games by Her Interactive. The games are targeted at "ages 10 and up" and follow the popular adventure game style of play. Players must move Nancy around in a virtual environment to talk to suspects, pick up clues, solve puzzles, and eventually solve the crime. High sales and a general growing demand for girls' CD-ROM titles have led to several Nancy Drew game releases, including:

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