Black Hunting Whip
Encyclopedia
Black Hunting Whip is the first book in the Punchbowl Farm series of novels by Monica Edwards
, published in 1950 by Collins
- although the preceding novel in the series (No Mistaking Corker
) featured the same characters but was written before the purchase of Punchbowl Farm. Mrs Thornton buys the farm at auction at the beginning of the story just as Monica Edwards had done in real life in 1947. Dion finds an ancient diary in the farm cellar which eventually leads to the discovery of the eponymous hunting whip.
Black Hunting Whip was first serialised in the Collins Magazine during 1950 and 1951. This was technically the first edition. Several of the illustrations in the serialised version differ from those in the hardback first edition and the calf Punchbowl Midnight is named Punch Bowl Midnight in this version—it was written before Monica Edwards decided to contract the name of the farm in the stories to Punchbowl Farm. The episodes were later collected together in the 1951 Collins Magazine Annual (Volume 4).
Monica Edwards
Monica Edwards was an English children's writer of the mid-twentieth century best known for her Romney Marsh and Punchbowl Farm series of children's novels.-Early life:...
, published in 1950 by Collins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
- although the preceding novel in the series (No Mistaking Corker
No Mistaking Corker
No Mistaking Corker is a novel by Monica Edwards, published in 1947 by Collins. It contained the same characters as the Punchbowl Farm series of books but was written before the purchase of Punchbowl Farm. The book tells the story of the four Thornton children and their father who go for a gypsy...
) featured the same characters but was written before the purchase of Punchbowl Farm. Mrs Thornton buys the farm at auction at the beginning of the story just as Monica Edwards had done in real life in 1947. Dion finds an ancient diary in the farm cellar which eventually leads to the discovery of the eponymous hunting whip.
Blurb from First Edition
Mrs. Thornton goes to an auction, and to her surprise acquires a ruined farmhouse and seventy wild acres. It lies in a deep Surrey valley, peeping behind the leaning fruit trees of its orchard. It is built of quarry stone, with pearl-grey timbers, diamond-paned windows and a steep, wide roof encrusted with moss and lichen. The Thorntons give their hearts to it at once and work hard to make the farm a success. There is much to do, much to be learnt and many difficulties to overcome, for the house is very old and the land is overgrown.
As they build for the future they discover fascinating relics of the past. The most exciting of these is Dion's discovery of the diary of a boy, which tells the story of the Black Hunting Whip. They determine to find the whip and to fulfil the boy's wish that it should be carried to victory in the Guildford Show. Their efforts to achieve this lead to a strange and unexpected event.
Subsequent editions
- Crown edition reprint - 1955
- Scottie Books paperback - 1956
- Armada Paperback - 1964
- Collins Pony Library - 1974
- John Goodchild new edition (updated) - 1984
- Girls Gone By PublishersGirls Gone By PublishersGirls Gone By Publishers is a publishing company run by Clarissa Cridland and Ann Mackie-Hunter and is based in Bath, Somerset. They re-publish new editions of some of the most popular girls' fiction titles from the twentieth century.-Elinor Brent-Dyer:...
reprint of original - May 2011
Black Hunting Whip was first serialised in the Collins Magazine during 1950 and 1951. This was technically the first edition. Several of the illustrations in the serialised version differ from those in the hardback first edition and the calf Punchbowl Midnight is named Punch Bowl Midnight in this version—it was written before Monica Edwards decided to contract the name of the farm in the stories to Punchbowl Farm. The episodes were later collected together in the 1951 Collins Magazine Annual (Volume 4).