Posted by Roger Wardale on June 01, 2014 at 00:00:24 user RogerW.
In Reply to: Re: 1st Edition for Sale posted by Owen Roberts on May 31, 2014 at 17:40:05:
I cannot believe it was declining book sales during and after WWII that caused a drop in book production standards; more likely a question of profit margins. 12 000 copies of Big Six were printed in 1940, but a whopping 20 500 for the first edition of Missee Lee, and almost 23 000 for Picts. in 1947 44 500 copies of GN? were printed before publication and the series continued to be very popular throughout the 1950s.
Wayne Hammond's Bibliography gives details of first edition numbers, and Ransome's diaries, at least in the early years, contain notes of numbers of copies sold.