I'm re-reading The Two Towers, and chapter VI welcomed me with this illustration of Meduseld
I must say the French artist (Philippe Munch) of this edition read the description of the castle and imagined a pretty one, that's far from PJ's vision when he directed the movies
I think the castle Tolkien imagined was somewhere between the two!
Famous Five Art Nostalgia – Summer Special (2/3): Camping
Introductory post
Masterpost
Be it in a tent, a caravan or even a cave, on a mountain ⛰️, on the moor 🍃 or by a lake 🏞️, how better to enjoy nature than camping 🏕️? And once night falls 🌜, come gather around the campfire 🔥 before bundling up in a cosy sleeping bag 😴!
Simone Baudouin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1955
Click for more!
Simone Baudouin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1955
Simone Baudouin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1955
Simone Baudouin, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1957
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1957
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1957
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1957
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1957
Simone Baudouin, #10 Five On A Hike Together, 1958
Jeanne Hives, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1962
Jeanne Hives, #16 Five Go To Billycock Hill, 1962
Jean Sidobre, #21 Five Are Together Again, 1973
Jean Sidobre, #05 Five Go Off In A Caravan, 1976
Jean Sidobre, #05 Five Go Off In A Caravan, 1976
Jean Sidobre, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1977
Jean Sidobre, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1977
Jean Sidobre, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1977
Claude Pascal, #LC21 Les Cinq jouent serré, 1980
Claude Pascal, #LC21 Les Cinq jouent serré, 1980
Umberto Nonna, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1981
Umberto Nonna, #15 Five On A Secret Trail, 1981
Jeann Sidobre, #16 Five Go To Billycock Hill, 1983
Annie-Claude Martin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1984
Anne Bozellec, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1991
Anne Bozellec, #LC01 Les Cinq sont les plus forts, 1997
Philippe Munch and Jame’s Prunier, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 2000
Frédéric Rébéna, #LC21 Les Cinq jouent serré, 2014
Famous Five Art Nostalgia – Character Portrait: Julian [François]
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Character profile (adapted from Wikipedia):
Julian is the oldest of the Five, cousin to George and elder brother to Dick and Anne. He is tall, strong and intelligent as well as caring, responsible and kind. His cleverness and reliability are often noted by Aunt Fanny. He is the leader of the group and is very protective towards Anne and sometimes, to her frustration, towards George. Twelve years old at the start of the series, Julian is the most mature of the group but, although well-meaning, his manner can at times come over as overbearing, pompous or priggish.
In Claude Voilier’s continuation series ‘Les Cinq’, Julian can often be found correcting Dick for his colloquialisms or cheeky barbs. Despite being the voice of caution, he can rarely stop his headstrong cousin George from acting recklessly.
Eileen A. Soper, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1949
Click below for more portraits from every illustrator I could find!
(in chronological order)
Simone Baudouin, #06 Five On Kirrin Island Again, 1955
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1957
Aldo de Amicis, #12 Five Go Down To The Sea, 1959
Jeanne Hives, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1962
Jeanne Hives, #19 Five Go To Demon’s Rocks, 1963
Jeanne Hives, #20 Five Have A Mystery To Solve, 1966
Jeanne Hives, #15 Five On A Secret Trail, 1968
Jeanne Hives, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1969
Jean Sidobre, #LC07 Les Cinq contre le Masque Noir, 1974
Jean Sidobre, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1977
Jean Sidobre, #15 Five On A Secret Trail, 1977
Claude Pascal, #LC14 Les Cinq vendent la peau de l’ours, 1977
Jean Sidobre, #18 Five On Finniston Farm, 1979
Claude Pascal, #LC20 Les Cinq jouent serré, 1980
Umberto Nonna, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1981
Umberto Nonna, #18 Five On Finniston Farm, 1981
Buci, #LC21 Les Cinq contre les fantômes, 1981
Annie-Claude Martin, #LC24 Les Cinq contre le loup-garou, 1985
Yves Beaujard, #18 Five On Finniston Farm, 1988
Anne Bozellec, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1991
Paul Gillon, #07 Five Go Off To Camp, 1991
Philippe Munch and Jame’s Prunier, #16 Five Go To Billycock Hill, 1999
Frédéric Rébéna, #LC05 Les Cinq à la télévision, 2011
Auren, #09 Five Fall Into Adventure, 2019
~~~~~~
And as a bonus, here is probably my favourite scene featuring Julian when, in #03 Five Run Away Together, he masterfully faces off the Sticks who would have denied the Five their meal. Enjoy!
Eileen A. Soper, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1944
Simone Baudouin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1955
Jean Sidobre, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1976
Annie-Claude Martin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1984
Famous Five Art Nostalgia – Character Portrait: Anne [Annie]
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Masterpost
Character profile (adapted from Wikipedia):
Anne is the youngest in the group, and generally takes care of the domestic duties during the Five's various camping holidays. As the youngest (ten years old in the first book of the series), she is more likely than the others to be frightened, and does not really enjoy the adventures as much as her brothers and her cousin. She sometimes lets her tongue run away with her, but ultimately she is as brave and resourceful as the others. She likes doing the domestic things such as planning, organising and preparing meals, and keeping where they are staying clean and tidy, be it a cave, house, tent or caravan. In Smuggler's Top it is suggested she is claustrophobic, as she is frightened of enclosed spaces, which remind her of bad dreams. But the adventures invariably lead the Five into tunnels, down wells, and into dungeons and other enclosed spaces, demonstrating how brave she really is.
Anne keeps the same general characterisation in Claude Voilier’s continuation series ‘Les Cinq’, although she occasionally insists that her brothers and cousin take part in household-y chores.
Eileen A. Soper, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1944
Click below for more portraits from every illustrator I could find!
(in chronological order)
Simone Baudouin, #02 Five Go Adventuring Again, 1955
Simone Baudouin, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1955
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off to Camp, 1957
Paul Durand, #07 Five Go Off to Camp, 1957
Aldo de Amicis, #12 Five Go Down To The Sea, 1959
Jeanne Hives, #13 Five Go To Mystery Moor, 1961
Jeanne Hives, #19 Five Go To Demon’s Rocks, 1963
Jeanne Hives, #19 Five Go To Demon’s Rocks, 1963
Jeanne Hives, #20 Five Have A Mystery To Solve, 1966
Jeanne Hives, #08 Five Get Into Trouble, 1969
Jean Sidobre, #19 Five Go To Demon’s Rocks, 1975
Jean Sidobre, #10 Five On A Hike Together, 1976
Claude Pascal, #LC14 Les Cinq vendent la peau de l’ours, 1977
Claude Pascal, #LC14 Les Cinq vendent la peau de l’ours, 1977
Claude Pascal, #LC19 Les Cinq en croisière, 1980
Buci, #LC21 Les Cinq contre les fantômes, 1981
Umberto Nonna, #15 Five On A Secret Trail, 1981
Jean Sidobre, #14 Five Have Plenty Of Fun, 1983
Annie-Claude Martin, #LC22 Les Cinq en Amazonie, 1983
Yves Beaujard, #21 Five Are Together Again, 1988
Anne Bozellec, #03 Five Run Away Together, 1991
Paul Gillon, #16 Five Go To Billycock Hill, 1994
Philippe Munch and Jame’s Prunier, #16 Five Go To Billycock Hill, 1999
Philippe Munch and Jame’s Prunier, #20 Five Have A Mystery To Solve, 2001
Frédéric Rébéna, #05 Five Go Off In A Caravan, 2010
Auren, #LC03 Le marquis appelle les Cinq / Les Cinq mènent l’enquête, 2022
White Fang by Jack London, 1906, with illustrations by Philippe Munch, 1998.
This edition has a tooooon of little supplemental blurbs and art pieces/photos added, on top of the book-specific art. It's less travel sized but I love all the extra context that's added 💕
When I started this series of posts a few months ago, I only had the vaguest idea about the various editions of the Famous Five books that existed over the years in France. The most well-known editions are those from the “Bibliothèque Rose” collection from publisher Hachette – ask anyone on the street (born in the last millennium) and it is probably what they have in mind. But through my searches on the second-hand market – both physical and online – I discovered several additional publications, and even the “Bibliothèque Rose” collection itself saw several variations over the years, giving us a plethora of cover art and inside illustrations to enjoy. Read on to get an overview of the publishing history of the Famous Five books in France (and French-speaking Switzerland)!
The French publisher, Hachette, was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as a bookshop and publishing company, first specialising in schoolbooks. In the 1850s, Louis Hachette opened several bookshops in railway stations and started to diversify his offer with serialised novels, travel books and magazines. In 1853, he signed a partnership with the Countess of Ségur (still famous to this day in the world of children’s literature) and subsequently founded the “Bibliothèque Rose” collection (lit. “pink library”) three years later, focused on books aimed to children aged 6-12. 150 years later, Hachette is now the first publishing company in France, and the “Bibliothèque Rose” collection still exists, although it has known many changes over the years.
The first Famous Five book was first published in France in 1955, under the simple title “Le Club des Cinq.” The French publisher did not follow the original English publishing order, and instead chose to publish in priority the books which, I assume, were deemed to garner most traction at the time. The first six books published in France have their original editions in a collection named “Ségur-Fleuriot” (thus named as an homage to two female writers whom Louis Hachette had been working with). These books were pocket-sized, with a hard cover, black-and-white illustrations, and a full-colour dust jacket.
“Ségur-Fleuriot” collection – From left to right:
#02 Five Go Adventuring Again / Le Club des Cinq (1955, ill. Simone Baudouin);
#03 Five Run Away Together / Le Club des Cinq contre-attaque (1955, ill. S. Baudouin);
#04 Five Go to Smuggler’s Top / Le Club des Cinq en vacances (1956, ill. S. Baudouin);
#06 Five Go On Kirrin Island Again / Le Club des Cinq joue et gagne (1956, ill. S. Baudouin);
#07 Five Go Off to Camp / Le Club des Cinq va camper (1957, ill. Paul Durand);
#08 Five Get into Trouble / Le Club des Cinq en péril (1957, ill. S. Baudouin).
(Note: The numbers starting with # correspond to the original English publishing order.)
From what I can gather – even if I find it odd because it doesn’t sound commercially sound – the next books benefitted from a double first edition: one in a collection called “Nouvelle Collection Ségur” with a soft cover, and the other in the above-mentioned “Bibliothèque Rose” with a hard cover. As far as I know, both these editions featured the same inside illustrations, although I have never seen a copy of a “Nouvelle Collection Ségur” book, so I cannot be absolutely sure of this. The red-coloured artwork featuring on the “Nouvelle Collection Ségur” covers were re-used (in black) on the inside title pages of the “Bibliothèque Rose” editions.
“Nouvelle Collection Ségur” – From left to right (in addition to the first six books which joined this collection at some point):
#10 Five on a Hike Together / Le Club des Cinq en randonnée (1958, ill. S. Baudouin);
#12 Five Go Down to the Sea / Le Club des Cinq au bord de la mer (1959, ill. Aldo de Amicis);
#09 Five Fall into Adventure / Le Club des Cinq et les gitans (1960, ill. Jeanne Hives);
#11 Five Have a Wonderful Time / Le Club des Cinq en roulotte (1960, ill. J. Hives);
#13 Five Go to Mystery Moor / La locomotive du Club des Cinq (1961, ill. J. Hives);
#14 Five Have Plenty of Fun / Enlèvement au Club des Cinq (1961, ill. J. Hives);
#16 Five Go to Billycock Hill / Le Club des Cinq et les papillons (1962, ill. J. Hives);
#01 Five on a Treasure Island / Le Club des Cinq et le trésor de l’île (1962, ill. J. Hives);
#18 Five on Finniston Farm / Le Club des Cinq et le coffre aux merveilles (1962, ill. J. Hives);
#19 Five Go To Demon’s Rocks / La boussole du Club des Cinq (1963, ill. J. Hives);
#17 Five Get into a Fix / Le Club des Cinq aux sports d’hiver (1964, ill. J. Hives);
#05 Five Go Off in a Caravan / Le Club des Cinq et les saltimbanques (1965, ill. J. Hives) [not featured];
#20 Five Have a Mystery to Solve / Le Club des Cinq et le vieux puits (1966, ill. J. Hives) [not featured];
#21 Five Are Together Again / Le Club des Cinq en embuscade (1967, ill. J. Hives).
If you count carefully, the 6 books from the “Ségur-Fleuriot” edition added to the 14 books from “Nouvelle Collection Ségur” make for a total of 20… out of 21 from the original English series! Where is the last book?? Well, the missing book (namely #15 Five on a Secret Trail / Le Club des Cinq se distingue) benefitted from a higher-end edition called “Idéal-Bibliothèque,” featuring a larger-size format, hard cover, better-quality paper, a dust jacket, and more numerous illustrations. A second book joined this upgraded edition a year later.
“Idéal-Bibliothèque” collection:
#15 Five on a Secret Trail / Le Club des Cinq se distingue (1961, ill. J. Hives);
#08 Five Get into Trouble / Le Club des Cinq en péril (1962, ill. J. Hives).
The “Bibliothèque Rose” editions, featuring hard covers, 4 to 6 full-page colour art, and several black and white illustrations, are the most well-known to this day.
“Bibliothèque Rose” original editions from 1958 to 1967, featuring artwork from the four original illustrators
(Note: Covers sorted according to the original English publication order, as it is very difficult to pinpoint the exact French publishing order due to the many re-editions.)
The series became wildly popular and benefitted from several re-editions, some of them with new cover art produced by the then-current illustrator, Jeanne Hives.
Some “Bibliothèque Rose” re-editions from 1965-1969, featuring new cover art by Jeanne Hives
The 1970s saw a renewal of the “Bibliothèque Rose” collection with the arrival of illustrator Jean Sidobre who, over the next 15 years, produced numerous covers for all 21 books and, in time, produced the full set of inside illustrations. In these newer editions though, the number of full-page colour illustrations was reduced to four due to economic constraints.
Various cover art by Jean Sidobre from 1971 to 1985
(Note: The third cover for '#03 Five Run Away Together / Le Club des Cinq contre-attaque' is not from Sidobre but from another illustrator, called Annie-Claude Martin.)
Back in the early 1970s, thanks to the series’ popularity, some of the books were published in a larger size format featuring several more colour illustrations and some black and white ones. These editions were respectively called “Galaxie” and “Vermeille” and were both illustrated by Jean Sidobre. Some of the art is the same as in “Bibliothèque Rose” above, and some is new. You will notice that the two books from the “Galaxie” edition are also part of the “Vermeille” edition; my guess is that they started these upgraded editions as “Galaxie”, but for some reason decided that “Vermeille” was better, and so they fitted the first two books into the developing new collection – as far as I can figure out, the contents of these two books are the same under “Galaxie” and “Vermeille”, the only difference being the cover art.
“Galaxie” collection:
#02 Five Go Adventuring Again / Le Club des Cinq (1971, ill. J. Sidobre);
#21 Five Are Together Again / Le Club des Cinq en embuscade (1972, ill. J. Sidobre).
“Vermeille” collection:
#18 Five on Finniston Farm / Le Club des Cinq et le coffre aux merveilles (1973, ill. J. Sidobre);
#21 Five Are Together Again / Le Club des Cinq en embuscade (1974, ill. J. Sidobre);
#02 Five Go Adventuring Again / Le Club des Cinq (1974, ill. J. Sidobre);
#01 Five on a Treasure Island / Le Club des Cinq et le trésor de l’île (1975, ill. J. Sidobre);
#17 Five Get into a Fix / Le Club des Cinq aux sports d’hiver (1975, ill. J. Sidobre);
#09 Five Fall into Adventure / Le Club des Cinq et les gitans (1975, ill. J. Sidobre);
#04 Five Go to Smuggler’s Top / Le Club des Cinq en vacances (1975, ill. J. Sidobre).
The 1980s saw a drop in “Bibliothèque Rose” sales as kids were moving from books to TV and video games. To boost sales, the publisher made several changes to the look and format of the books, and the original text was sometimes abridged.
In 1988, as sales continued to fall, and to save money, Hachette changed its “Bibliothèque Rose” hardbacks to a softcover pocket format. The inside colour illustrations disappeared and the black and white ones decreased in number (re-using former art from Sidobre). On the upside, these editions saw a series of new cover art from a different illustrator, Yves Beaujard, whose art style on these covers is very similar to Sidobre’s, which leads me to think that this was a requirement from the publisher who wanted a certain consistency between Beaujard’s cover art and Sidobre’s inside illustrations.
From 1988 to 1992, the whole series benefitted from new cover art by Yves Beaujard (with the exception of ‘Le Club des Cinq au bord de la mer’ and ‘Le Club des Cinq et les papillons’, which re-used former art from Jean Sidobre)
(Note: As far as I know, ‘#03 Five Run Away Together / Le Club des Cinq contre-attaque’ was never included in this edition.)
In the 1990s, a series of new cover art was produced by Paul Gillon, with the same general layout as the previous edition. The inside black and white illustrations are either former art by Sidobre or new art by Anne Bozellec.
Cover art by Paul Gillon from 1991-98
In 2000, Hachette celebrated the new millennium with a new style for its “Bibliothèque Rose” collection, featuring a hybrid format between hardback and softback adorned with a glossy aesthetic. The inside illustrations are the same as the previous editions, by Sidobre or Bozellec.
Cover art by Philippe Munch and Jame’s Prunier from 1999-2004
(Note: As far as I know, ‘#10 Five Go on a Hike Together / Le Club des Cinq en randonnée’, ‘#11 Five Have a Wonderful Time / Le Club des Cinq en roulotte’, ‘#12 Five Go Down to the Sea / Le Club des Cinq au bord de la mer’, ‘#17 Five Get into a Fix / Le Club des Cinq aux sports d’hiver’ and ‘#21 Five Are Together Again / Le Club des Cinq en embuscade’ were never included in this edition.)
In the mid-2000s, the morality police made their way through the books, resulting in watered-down translations and some title changes. Frédéric Rébéna did a series of new cover art. The inside illustrations all but disappeared, only featuring as small vignettes at the opening of each chapter.
Cover art by Frédéric Rébéna from 2005-11
In the 2020s, the series changed from “Bibliothèque Rose” to “Bibliothèque Verte” collection with new cover art by Auren.
Similar to “Bibliothèque Rose,” “Bibliothèque Verte” (lit. “green library”) was another historically popular collection from publisher Hachette, initially aimed toward a teenage male readership, while “Bibliothèque Rose” was leaning toward a younger and female audience. Nowadays, the line between what is deemed appropriate reading material for boys or girls has thankfully blurred and both collections are now thematically oriented, “Bibliothèque Rose” focusing on humour/emotion and “Bibliothèque Verte” on action/adventure. Hence the marketing decision that caused the Famous Five series to lose its historical pink palette.
Cover art by Auren from 2019-21
And that’s a wrap for the main French editions! But there’s still a few more to go through.
First is France Loisirs, a book sales club to which you can register and you will receive a certain number of books each month. I do not know if the whole series was ever fully published by France Loisirs; the visuals that you will find below are all that I could find. The books are hardbacks with a dust jacket and without any inside illustrations. From what I could gather, they were published from 1975 to the early 1980s. The illustrator is called J.P. Morvan and, if you look closely, often took inspiration from earlier “Bibliothèque Rose” illustrations by Jean Sidobre.
“France Loisirs” edition from 1975-82 with cover art by J.P. Morvan
In the 1990s, France Loisirs published another batch, re-using cover art by Paul Gillon from the contemporary “Bibliothèque Rose” edition. I’m a bit fuzzy on the exact dates, but these were published from the early to mid-1990s to around 2000. I do not know anything about the books themselves, but I can assume that they contain only plain text without any inside illustrations.
“France Loisirs” edition from the 1990s featuring art by Paul Gillon
Last on our exploration of “Famous Five” French publishing is actually not French at all! But I’m including it in this post because it uses the same French translations as Hachette.
This particular edition is from a publisher named “Edito Service SA, Genève”, which you may have guessed is from Switzerland. I don’t have a lot of information about its history and only learned about its existence because some of these books made it through the border into France, and from there onto the online second-hand market. The books each contain 5 illustrations by Umberto Nonna (3 black and white and 2 full-colour), and they come both in softback and hardback formats. They were published in 1981-82.
“Edito Service” edition from 1981-82 (softbacks)
“Edito Service” edition from 1981-82 (some of the hardbacks)
(Note: Despite what the above pictures suggest, all the hardback covers have the same dark green background.)
Thank you for your attention, and see you soon!
~~~~~~
We’ve now truly come to the end of this deep-dive into Famous Five French publishing.
The quote: Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow. — Victor Frankenstein
I find this a difficult book to review. Some things that I need to say on that rating. It might have been higher in a number of different circumstances. If I was reading it in Mary Shelley's time (think early 19th century). If I wasn't delayed in reading it (think reading slump). Or if I was new to it. I studied Frankenstein in year 11 Literature hence the illustrated and annotated edition, studying a text is one way to ruin a book for me a bit. As a bit of an aside, it is remarkably difficult to read this book and not compare it to other things. Its adaptions or works it inspired. Reading Agatha Christie is much the same I believe, reading her Poirot or Miss Marple novels comes across as been there done that to the modern reader. But she did it all first, she formed these devices so prevalent in modern fiction. While it isn't to quite the same extent with Mary Shelley (at least not this book) those thoughts still need to be kept in mind. I will say one thing though the plot and the ethical questions that arise therefrom very much still stand up.
It is very much up to you to deal with the ethics and the questions raised. For some people it will be plain and simple the creature is a monster and humankind was saved by Victor's choice. For others like me, it is more complicated the creature deserved a chance and was driven to his actions. The creature was not much more than a child with a child's knowledge and ability to process, with an adult's body. He was left on his own to fend for himself to develop. If you look at him that way his actions are understandable. I have many more issues with Victor's choices playing god and abandoning his creation. His regret feels more selfish or self-serving than anything else. The second quote I included is from right near the end of the book. Though there is a section where Victor does almost consider aiding his creature is getting a more human existence. That in itself opens up all the what-ifs. Alternatively, just read and not think too heavily about it. Unfortunately, a side effect of studying a book is your way of thinking about it changes.
One thing I had forgotten in the years since I had read this was the intelligent framing of Frankenstein. The framing is letters from an arctic explorer on a ship to a beloved sister. They allow for the story to be told in the first person but with substantial time jumps and some reflective passages. But it does also allow for an unreliable or at least biased narrator. Shelley also makes it clear that the explorer, Walton, has his own life, story, experiences and ethics. This isn't entirely about Victor Frankenstein. It's also about the creature and to a degree Walton. The choice to give the creature a long section explaining his story was a good one. It covers 2 years as concisely as possible. But shows how something of a fully grown man with an infant's compression became so corrupted by hate and vengeance. How his appearance shock people into rash action. Not allowing him a chance at a life.
Just something that needs a bit of a warning there is something in Frankenstein that is akin to incest to modern eyes. When you read this you do need to remember that it was written in the early 19th century a time with extremely different cultural norms. That said given the societal differences the language remains quite readable with only a handful of words truly falling out of favour. Such as paroxysms "a sudden attack or outburst of a particular emotion or activity" (my emphasis). As a side note...which creative fool do I have to blame for corrupting the creature (aka Frankenstein's Monster)? In so many pop culture interpretations he is tall yes but inarticulate and slow-moving. Shelley writes him as superhuman in statute, speed and strength. Articulate and almost polite to Victor.
