The covers of Nancy Drew and other books always fascinated me when I first read them. I was certain that there was some clue to the mystery or insight to the story in the pictures. Some of them were oh so scary –The Haunted Bridge, for instance, or The Ghost of Blackwood Hall...there were actually ghosts on the covers! Some were just plain neat, and piqued my imagination, such as The Mystery at Lilac Inn, with the flashlights in Nancy’s sleeves, or The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, with the actual dragon on the cover. How thrilling!

So, a few years ago when I began collecting again, imagine my disappointment when I ordered a copy of Haunted Bridge on Ebay that did not look like anything that I remembered. Never even saw the book before. OK, maybe my memory is not as good as it used to be, and there was a ghost on the bridge of this cover, but it just didn’t seem to be the same. And when I opened it up, the end pages were different, too. I was so sure that they were blue before….

Well, that was because the covers and endpapers have undergone a few changes over the years. The original series came out with colorful and intriguing dust jackets, drawn by Russell H. Tandy. These have become very popular among collectors, for their beauty and also because many collectors remember these as the covers they first saw when they were young. Tandy illustrated all but one of the first 26 books.

The covers were eventually updated and replaced with the artwork of Bill Gillies, and/or Rudi Nappi. Many of these were also intriguing, but were definitely different styles.

The original endpapers in the first books with the plain blue boards were blank. (I do not remember ever seeing them until recently!) The end papers in the old blue and orange books had a silhouette drawing of Nancy and friends in front of a scary house. Wow, I loved them when I was a kid. Nancy had her magnifying glass and was clearly sleuthing her heart out.

Later end papers showed Nancy hiding behind a tree and watching a man digging, now known as the Digger end papers. Also very interesting. They were not used for long, and were replaced by blue multi-scene end papers, which had small pictures of scenes from the books. What fun it was trying to match up the pictures to the book titles! Later, the endpapers became white with multi-scene black and white pictures. They also underwent a revision, and changed slightly.

Then came another version of the endpapers, this time showing an oval with Nancy inside, know to some collectors as the “Dreaded” Double Ovals. Many do not think that Nancy is looking her best in these! Now, in the most recent books, the endpapers are blank again.

Which cover art is best? Which end papers are the most interesting? It just depends on individual taste and memories. Collect what you love is the only rule, and if you love Tandy or Gillies best, or remember the Nappi covers from your child hood with very fond memories, collect the ones that are special to you.

Me, I collect them all.

As always, visit Jenn Fisher’s website for a detailed rundown of all the covers and end papers: The Nancy Drew Unofficial Website.

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