Greenjacket Books

aka/ Pitman’s Greenjacket Books
aka/ Green-Jacket Books
aka/ Green Jacket Books

Sir Issac Pitman & Sons Ltd. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1935-1947
Size: 5″ x 7.5″

Pitman & Sons, Ltd. was established in 1886 by Issac Pitman, an educational innovator who developed Pitman’s Shorthand, introduced spelling reform, taught the first modern distance learning courses, and promoted vegetarianism.

The Greenjacket Books were first issued in 1935 and the last printing and advertising seem to have been in 1947. The series included young adult fiction and reached about a dozen titles. The majority of titles were issued in 1936-1937. Jackets for the series were initially unique to each title, but reprints in the mid and late 1940s had jackets common to the series. This copy of Carola Oman’s Ferry the Fearless has one of the common jacket designs. The jackets are dominated by green and include the series name on the bottom front of the jacket. The front jacket flap describes the book and includes a few quotes from reviews. The price of 5/- net is also included on the front jacket flap.

The rear of the jacket is blank. The rear jacket flap includes an advertisement for The Voice of Britain, not uncommon on series books published in the UK in the latter part of WW2.

Bindings are basic cloth, in green, with black typography and minimal decorations. The deer colophon for the series carries over from the jacket.

The half-title page includes the series name and book title.

The reverse of the half-title page includes an advertisement for another title by the book’s author.

A color illustration, by Winifred M. Townshend, faces the title page. A few more color illustrations are scattered through the book.

The copyright page has no date but does have an indication of wartime book production standards. Ferry the Fearless was first published in the series in 1937, but this copy is probably 1946 or 1947.

The table of contents.