Betty Bacon Blunt’s wordless novel, Bet It’s A Boy, in 46 drawings is a lighthearted pictorial account of a woman’s journey to childbirth.
It tells the age old story of a young couple, first suspecting, then confirming the wife is pregnant. First published in 1940, the cartoons accurately depict what all pregnant women have had to cope with down through the ages including experiences with more “modern” medicine.
Most wordless novels, especially those pre-1960, deal with social realism and rather grim themes. This story lacks the gravitas often associated with wordless novels and some would question the appropriateness of including it here. My inclination is to include anything that comes within the strict definition of a wordless story, lighthearted or not.
- Title: Bet It’s A Boy
- Author and Illustrator: Betty Bacon Blunt (is this a real name?)
- Copyright Year: 1940
If you have any biographic information about the author, please advise wn@wordlessnovels.com
Comparison of the first 3 editions
QUESTION: There are 3 editions, with no date of publication except to say “Copyright 1940” so it is not possible to be certain as to the order of publication.
A hard cover came out in 1941. No other editions came out until 1948.
Any information would be appreciated.
Copyright:
- All 3 editions are “Copyright 1940 by Betty Bacon Blunt”
Publisher:
- Plastic comb binding – Cider Press; Place of publication: Brattleboro, VT
- Plastic spiral binding – The General Publishing Company; Place of publication: Springfield, Mass.
- Perfect bound binding – Grosset and Dunlap; Place of publication: New York
Dimensions:
- all 3 are essentially the same size: 8 1/4 x 7 inches (comb and spiral editions are slightly wider to accommodate the binding)
Printing
- all 3 copies are unpaginated
- The plastic spiral and plastic comb are printed recto while the Perfect Bound is printed recto and verso. Was the Perfect Bound a War effort to save on petroleum or paper?
3 Colours:
- All 3 editions are done in black line drawings; all images have blue added and many images (always the mother’s hair) have gold added.
- There are some differences in the shades of colour but nothing that can’t be explained by differences in job lots.
Cider Press – 1940 plastic comb binding
- Printer: The General Printing Company Inc
- Binding: plastic comb binding, light blue (for a boy?)
- Cover: thin card
- Printed: recto except copyright page
The General Publishing Company – plastic spiral binding
Printer: Lithographed by The General Printing Company Inc (as distinct from the publisher)
Binding: plastic spiral
Cover: thin card
Printed: recto
Grosset & Dunlap, NY. 1940 Perfect bound
- Printer: not indicated,
- Binding: perfect bound, softcover wraps,
- Cover: thin card,
- Printed: recto and verso (unlike the other two editions). Was this Perfect Bound a later war effort to save on petroleum/paper? Note: Grosset and Dunlap,
- went back to spiral binding in 1953.
1941 Hard cover
I am getting details and will post later
Later Editions
- 1948 Angus & Robertson, 1st Australian
- 1953 Grosset and Dunlap, Spiral binding
- 1955 Angus & Robertson Hardcover binding and measures approximately 22 x 18.5cm x 1cm thick.
- 1956 Angus & Robertson, London; hard cover – 7½” x 5¼”. [unpaginated] dust wrapper not price clipped 2/6