ASU SPEC RARE BOOKS Childrens PZ 7 .K23 Hi c.4
The Elaine O’Quinn Girls’ Studies Collection in Special Collections houses original Nancy Drew books printed from the 1930s to the 1970s. The O’Quinn Collection primarily consists of popular literature intended for mid-twentieth century adolescent girl readers.
The Nancy Drew series has 175 volumes published from 1930 to 2003. Nancy Drew is a teenage girl who spends her time solving mysteries, often with her two best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne. She’s the daughter of a famous mystery case attorney, Carson Drew. In the original versions of the series, she is a 16-year-old high school graduate, and in later versions, she is an 18-year-old high school graduate and detective.
Nancy Drew lives in River Heights, Illinois, and often solves mysteries involving jewelry thieves, bank robbers, smugglers, and kidnappers. In 1986, The Nancy Drew Files series was published by Simon & Schuster and featured more mature stories with murder mysteries and romance.
Nancy Drew is known for being adventurous, brilliant, and fearless. Her legacy makes her an icon and positive influence for several successful women, such as Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor, along with Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush.
ASU SPEC RARE BOOKS CHILDRENS LIT PZ7.K23 Gh 1967
Interest in Nancy Drew continues today. In October 2019, The CW television network premiered a new Nancy Drew television series. This show depicts Nancy Drew the summer before college, only a mystery tragedy sets her back another year. The setting of the show is in Horseshoe Bay in Maine rather than River Heights, Illinois. The show and the books revolve around the same main characters: Nancy, Bess, George, her father Carson, and her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. Some differences in the show are Bess and George are not her best friends, they are frenemies, she has a strained relationship with her father, and her boyfriend, Ned, goes by Nick.
The show does not follow any of the plots in the original book series, but the show does leave little hints to the books. In the trailer for the show, an attic door falls upon onto Nancy and this is a reference to book #21, The Secret In The Old Attic. Also, she studies a wall of newspaper clippings and the headlines reference the original novels. Specifically, the headline “Daughter of Local Attorney Discovers Client’s Missing Will in Antique Clock” is a reference to the very first book, The Secret Of The Old Clock. So while the TV series takes creative liberty with the original character and plot, the show still alludes to its inspiration from the original book series.
ASU SPEC RARE BOOKS CHILDRENS LIT PZ7.K23 Clj 1972
If the new CW show inspires you to read or reread the Nancy Drew series, come to Special Collections to view the collection of original Nancy Drew novels from 1930 to 1979. The books were collected by Appalachian State University Professor of English Dr. Elaine J. O’Quinn, who researches and teaches about the literature and literacy of girls. A portion of the books in this collection are the Nancy Drew series, including the Twin Thriller book club editions that were issued in the 1970s. The Twin Thriller book club editions feature two volumes in one book.
To view this series, visit the Special Collections Research Center at Belk Library and Information Commons. The rare books and archives are available Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm. For more information, contact Special Collections by email spcoll@appstate.edu or by phone at 828- 262–4041.
Written by Liv Winnicki, former Rare Books and Archives Reference Student Assistant
Book Cover of The Clue of the Leaning Chimney
