As you may have gathered, last week was quite a week for us – we were overwhelmed by the public response to the discovery of an unpublished Enid Blyton novel, and were thrilled to see there is still so much interest in her work. We are also delighted that so many people can see the value of the work we do here at Seven Stories, preserving Britain’s literary heritage and making it accessible to the public.
Our chief executive, Kate Edwards, said last week: “The international interest in this find has been overwhelming. It shows, without a shadow of a doubt, the value of our work to protect Britain’s literary heritage for children and to celebrate the creative lives of its authors. The Enid Blyton archive was in danger of being lost to the nation – we were only able to save it through generous grants and donations from people who understood the significance of our work, enabling us act quickly to purchase it on the nation’s behalf.
“We are quite a small charity that has taken on the massive task of building a national children’s literature Collection, which we protect and bring to life through exhibitions, events and learning activities for our young audiences. There are other important archives like this one, that are in danger of sold to private collectors. Anyone who cares about protecting them for future generations, and who believes in the vital and magical part that children’s books in childhood, can help us by making a donation or by becoming a Friend of Seven Stories.”
Given the huge public interest, the manuscript of Mr Tumpy’s Caravan is now on display in Seven Stories – if you’re in the neighbourhood, pop in to Storylab on Level 6 to take a peek. And you can also find out more about the Enid Blyton archive, and see a selection of digitised images, on the new Enid Blyton page on our website.