aka/ Green Leaf Library
William Collins & Sons (aka/ Collins Clear-Type Press) (London, Glasgow, UK)
Series dates: 1932-1936
Size: 5″ x 7.25″
Update 6/15/2024
A slightly quirky reprint series of popular literary fiction issued by Collins between 1932 and 1936. The series is “Green Leaf” or “Greenleaf” in different sources and in/on the books (jacket vs. inside of the book).
A note in the I.C.I. Magazine (vol. 11, p. 392, 1932) mentions that “Collins’ have entered the lists of cheap re-prints with this handsome series, that looks as expensive as a first edition.” I believe eight titles were issued in the first year of the series (see below). I’ve documented a total of 23 titles, with one “maybe” title (I have an author but not the book, and I can’t find any mention of that author having a title in the Green Leaf Library).
Jackets are common to the series. They are yellow with a pale blue laurel surrounding the series name (jacket spine) and book title (jacket front). A blurb for the title is on the front jacket flap. This is a copy of Rose Macaulay’s Orphan Island from the first year the series was published, 1932. The series name is “Greenleaf” on the jacket spine and front.
The initial six titles in the series are on the back of the dust jacket. The rear jacket flap is blank.
Titles in the series: The dates are a bit tenuous, given that many of the titles seemed to have retained earlier copyright dates (many earlier than 1932).
Experience by Catherine Cotton (1932)
The Return by Walter De la Mare (1932)
The Dark Tower by Francis Brett Young (1932)
A Man Named Luke by March Cost (1932)
The Wayward Man, by St. John G. Ervine (1932)
These Charming People by Michael Arlen (1932)
The Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young (1932)
Orphan Island by Rose Macaulay (1932)
May Fair by Michael Arlen (1934)
Martin Pippin in the Apple-Orchard by Eleanor Farjeon (1934)
The Miracle of Peille by J.L. Campbell (1934)
Crewe Train by Dame Rose Macaulay (1934)
Staying With Relations by Rose Macaulay (1935)
Mandoa, Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby (1935)
The Red Knight by Francis Brett Young (1935)
Keeping Up Appearances by Rose Macaulay (1935)
Potterism, a Tragi-Farcical Tract by Rose Macaulay (1936)
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay (1936)
Told By an Idiot by Rose Macaulay (1936)
Barnham Rectory by Doreen Wallace (1936)
Even Such a Time by Doreen Wallace (1936)
The Crescent Moon by Frances Brett Young (1936)
The Riddle of Helena by Claude Houghton (1936)
Unknown title:
Title by Helen Beauclerk
Green cloth binding with gold typography:
Blank end-papers:
The half-title page:
A list of the initial “Green Leaf” Library titles faces the title page:
A list of Orphan Island printings includes this first printing in the Green Leaf Library (August 1932).
