Goblin Island

Goblin Island was the first book to be written by Elsie Jeanette Oxenham, and it was first published in 1907. It was partly autobiographical, showing a young woman doing secretarial work for her father, an author, while they were on holiday, something EJO did for her father, John Oxenham, before she became an author herself. Click here to see some pages from Goblin Island. The GGBP edition of Goblin Island was published to mark its centenary, and is probably the most lavish reprint we shall ever do! When compiling the publishing history, it was discovered that several very early editions had completely different illustrations, and our edition includes them all (and is the only one to do so). Full colour endpapers taken from an early edition (ie pre WWI) The full colour frontispiece and title page taken from the first edition Three other full colour plates taken from an early edition (ie pre WWI) 32 black and white plates taken from the first edition The detailed publishing history includes a full discussion of these early editions, as well as the various later editions, and is illustrated with black and white pictures of all illustrations from the later editions. In addition, there is a fascinating introduction by Ruth Allen, former editor of The Abbey Chronicle, in which she shows how the themes of later Abbey books come through in this first book of Elsie Oxenham’s. Some of the later editions has text changes – our text is taken from the first edition and reproduced in full (as indeed is customary with all our reprints) GGBP published Goblin Island in October 2007. Goblin Island went out of print in January 2011.

Jen of the Abbey School

Jen of the Abbey School is no 12 in the reading order of the Abbey series. Click here to see some pages from Jen of the Abbey School. Jen of the Abbey School was published in 1927 but goes back in time to fill in the gaps in Jen’s story. It tells the story of Jen at her Yorkshire home, and of her friendship with the girls of a boarding school on the hills near at hand. A new girl, Rhoda, comes to the school, and she and Jen find that their interest in folk-dancing leads them into many adventures, including the finding of a valuable old morris pipe, the rescue of a Basque fisherman, who is surprisingly found in the snow on the Yorkshire moors, and who proves to be the bringer of tidings which solve a mystery. And then there is the competition in which Jen’s village children and the school team are rivals … Did you know that parts of Jen had previously appeared in annuals, with slightly different text, and extra illustrations? Did you know that after its publication in book form it was then split into three and republished, with some additional text? The GGBP edition of Jen includes:

• an introduction by Betula O’Neill explaining exactly how the book fits into the Abbey series, and how it connects with other titles (with plot summaries of those which are not easily found)
• an article on the location by Ann Mackie-Hunter, with a map and fascinating historical details
• the publishing history by Clarissa Cridland with some lovely pictures of early annuals
• a colour frontispiece taken from an early annual which has much more in the picture than the variation reproduced in the original book
• five sepia plates, three of which were never produced in the original book but which were in early annuals
• numerous additional line drawings
• the extra text, taken from one of the Rocklands books and included here in its proper place.

GGBP published Jen of the Abbey School in January 2007. Jen of the Abbey School went out of print on 2nd June 2011.

The New Abbey Girls

The New Abbey Girls is no 13 in the reading order of the Abbey series. This is the title which introduces Rosamund and Maidlin, as they come to live with the family at the Abbey, and it is to the trials and adventures of the younger members that this story is mainly devoted. But we meet Madam and the Pixie again, and there is plenty of folk-dancing. Click here to see some pages from The New Abbey Girls. Ann Mackie-Hunter has written an introductory article on folk-dancing, and it is this article which led Ju Gosling to do some research and set up the Canning Town Folk project, which included a conference on 2nd October 2010 where the work of EJO and the Pixie was celebrated, along with Maud Karpeles, ‘the Little Page’. If you are interested in this, please e-mail Ju at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  Adrianne Fitzpatrick has written a fascinating article, From Rags to Ritches, something which features much in Elsie Oxenham’s books, and particularly in The New Abbey Girls. The publishing history by Clarissa Cridland shows a range of reprints, but interestingly The New Abbey Girls was never published in a Seagull edition. If you only have the Children’s Press edition from the 1960s that is very badly cut. GGBP published The New Abbey Girls in November 2008. The New Abbey Girls went out of print on 2nd June 2011.