Bettany Press The home of 20th century girls' fiction on the web
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Bettany
Press is a smallpress publisher which was founded
in 1994 by Rosemary Auchmuty and Ju Gosling and is now run by Ju Gosling.
We specialise in books for fans of British girls' fiction. In December
2004 we held a conference to celebrate our 10th anniversary: click
here to read a full report.
Girls' school stories - by authors such as Angela Brazil, Enid Blyton, Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Elsie Oxenham and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer - have been uniquely popular with girls worldwide throughout the 20th century. In the 21st century, feminists and fans alike are publicly reclaiming and celebrating the genre and its message of girl power.
Photograph: Rosemary Auchmuty (left) and Ju Gosling at the launch of Jean of Storms
In 1997, Ju Gosling completed Virtual Worlds of Girls, a PhD online thesis on 20th-century British girls' school stories. Here you can find about more about The History of Girls' School Stories; The World of the Chalet School; The Critics of Girls' School Stories; The Parodies of Girls' School Stories; The Fans of Girls' School Stories and The Significance of Girls' School Stories, as well as Ju Gosling's own schooldays. For further reading about girls' school stories, together with bibliographies of individual girls' school story authors, see the Bibliography.
The website is accompanied by a one-hour video (VHS Pal only), The Chalet School Revisited, which follows the fans of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer as they celebrate her birth centenary in 1994. You can buy a CD of the website, along with a copy of The Chalet School Revisited, from Bettany Press. In 2003 we will be publishing a DVD which combines the website with the film in a true electronic research textbook, as was originally intended.
If you have published web-based research about girls' school stories and would like us to put a link in from this site, please let us know.
Email lists:
- Girls
Own A lively discussion group about all 20th century girls' authors
For fans of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer:
- The New Chalet Club
- Friends of the Chalet School
- www.cbb-forum.co.uk An international Online community for fans of the Chalet School.
For fans of Dorita Fairlie Bruce:
For fans of Elsie Jeanette Oxenham:
- The Elsie Jeanette Oxenham Appreciation Society (UK-based, publishers of The Abbey Chronicle)
- Pages by members of the EJO Society
- Elsie Jeanette Oxenham and the Abbey Girls Series
For fans of Antonia Forest:
For fans of Enid Blyton:
http://jollyhockeysticks.swiki.net has set of notes made at a lecture by Mary Cadogan, in February 2003, and an essay on School Stories and their depiction of girls movements (i.e. Guildry, Guides, Camp Fire) by Emily Beer. Part of this essay is the introduction to That Boarding School Girl in the new GGBP reprint.
For information about other children's authors on the web:
If you have produced a website about girls' school stories and would like us to include a link here,please let us know.
Girls Gone By Publishers republishes hard-to-find 20th-century girls' fiction, including unabridged editions of the Chalet School series, together with "Chalet School" books written in the style of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer.
Fidra Books republishes 20th century children's books concentrating on ponies, the outdoors and rural adventure, but also publish Mabel Esther Allan's The School on North Barrule etc.
Gracewing Books has recently published We Didn't Mean to Start a School by Julia Blythe, "a traditional school story, packed with adventures and fun - but in a modern setting, with the school having computers and the girls facing modern challenges such as a dramatic burglary". Price £5.95 from Gracewing, 2 Southern Ave, Leominster, HR6 0QF.
You can also find secondhand copies of children's books for sale at www.ebay.com
The following bookdealers sell Bettany Press titles, and may be able to offer credit/debit card and/or PayPal facilities (which we cannot).
Gill Bilski Gill is one of the most long-established secondhand children's bookdealers in the UK. You can read more about her experiences as a collector and dealer in The Chalet School Revisited.
Topsy Turvy Children's Books sells secondhand copies of children's books, together with books from Bettany Press, Fidra Books and Girls Gone By Publishers. NB: Accepts PayPal. Betula O'Neill of Topsy Turvy Books also sells plastic covers to fit Bettany Press titles.
Bowbridge Publishing (also sells secondhand children's books, including a specialist section on the Chalet School).
Kidzbooks.net (also sells secondhand children's books, including a specialist section on the Chalet School).
The Haunted Bookshop Deals in children's and illustrated books, both new and secondhand.
Peakirk Books A small family run business operating both a physical and virtual used book shop.
Badger
Books Specialise in new reprints of collectable
children's books, with some secondhand stock. Their online shop allows
easy online ordering and payment.
Scotland
The Old Children’s Bookshelf, 175 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8BN.
New Zealand
Trash n Treasur-a-bull, 122 Bridge Street, Bulls, Manawatu, New Zealand
NB: You can also order Bettany Press titles from Amazon or from any UK-based bookseller. However, these will take longer to arrive than ordering from the booksellers above or directly from Bettany Press, since other sellers will need to order the titles in from us once you have placed your order.
You can contact us by email on mail@bettanypress.co.uk or by post at 8 Kildare Road, London E16 4AD.
NB: Orders can take up to 28 days to be posted and despatched; please allow time for this before enquiring. We also have a policy of not cashing cheques and money orders until an order is about to be despatched.