Inside illustration.
Text Differences
First off, there's an incredible Nancy Drew site here. It's crammed with information about Nancy Drew and has virtually anything you'd want to know. One specific thing Jennifer does is list the date that the first 34 Nancy Drew Mystery books were re-written, and if that rewriting was a substantive change.
She points out that there were two types of changes to this particular volume. The original title is The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion. The revised title drops the 'The' from the front. Secondly, she points out that the text change is major.
It absolutely had to be, as the revised version was done in 1971, and the original in 1941. Why was it required to be changed massively? The topic in the 1971 book revolves around the Apollo moonshot and some people out to stop it. Now in 1941 NASA didn't exit, and any rocket flight to the moon was only in the minds of a very small number of scientists.
Indeed, the rockets at that time were used for killing people. The German V-1, also known as the 'buzz bomb' and the German V-2 were the main rockets on the Nazi side. The V-1 wasn't incredibly effective since it was slow and very loud and thus could be shot down by a plane. The V-2 could not be stopped and was not stopped until the launching site was destroyed and overrun.
The rockets that the Americans used were primarily of a kind used for mass bomardment of Pacific islands. Thus, the entire focus of the story had to be changed. This all makes it somewhat difficult in collecting Nancy Drew books, of course, since 8 of the 34 books had major changes as is shown in Jennifer's list, and this doesn't count different cover artwork.
There's actually almost no comparison possible between the texts. Both deal with a mansion, some wild animals and crooks, but that's about the only things they have in common. A number of thats that happen in the 1941 text are very similar to things from The Hidden Staircase (the crumbling ceiling, a woman with a bad heart, etc), and The Clue in the Crumbling Wall (a lot of simlarities).
So I won't be doing any actual listing of differences since there are so many. Also, I will do the synopsis for each book separately.
Synopsis. SPOILERS!
1941 Text
Chapter 1
The three girls are out in the country. Nancy sees a No Trespassing sign. Bess is frightened by a moss-covered house. She thinks she heard something from inside the house. George falls into an old lily pool. They are confronted by a red-bearded man who's nasty. They hear more sounds, he rushes back into the house, and they hear a pistol shot.
Chapter 2
The guy comes out with a whip. The story goes over a few of Nancy's other cases. The girls leave and have to cross a couple of streams in their car. George has lost her watch at the mansion. They are going to Ashley to meet with Nancy's father-it's his birthday. Nancy has had a painting done of herself. They get to the boarding house and a 'colored man' carries their baggage inside. The painting has sustained a couple of scratches.
Chapter 3
Mrs. Lee offers to fix the painting, but Nancy ends up fixing it hefself. They hold a small party for Mr. Drew and she gives him the painting.
Chapter 4
Mr. Drew and the girls go to the mansion the next day. She sees a face by a window pain and hears another shot. A black servant comes to the door and a dog attacks Nancy. Their car is missing. The three girls hide in a tree and Mr. Drew drives up. He lassoes the dog. He had followed the red-bearded man from the mansion. They return to their place and a painter arrives.
Chapter 5
The artist is upset the painting has been damaged. He knows about the mansion and tells about its history and how people that lived there died of a mysterious illness. The mansion was built before the Revolutionary War. Nancy takes the artist to a steamboat and meets Ned who has come to see Mr. Drew. Bess and George become ill, but it's poison ivy.
Mr. Drew is looking for a woman named June who has inherited some moneyh but who seems to have disappeared. (Sound familiar?) Ned and Nancy go to a carnival and a moneky escapes. Next day a scumy guy shows up and demands that Nancy tell him who shot his brother.
Chapter 6
He threatens Nancy. This is Ramo, the main evil character in the story. Mr. Drew literally pushes him out. He has found that June was born in Ashley. Nancy interviews a woman for information about June and finds out she was travelling with her explorer father. Suddenly there's a high wind and part of the ceiling collapses (a la The Hidden Staircase.)
Chapter 7
The house is not in good shape. The woman is poor and can't afford major repairs. Ramo shows up there, then runs away when Mr. Drew arrives. The woman was injured by the ceiling collapse. She knows Ramo and says he's a troublemaker. They get a lead on a woman who knew Jane. Nancy's car is tampered with.
Chapter 8
Mr. Drew returns. Parts are missing from the car. Nancy and her father meet another woman. Ramo overhears them talk about June's possible fortune. June is then 'found' (this time a la The Crumbling Wall.) Ramo supposedly leaves and is watched by the red-headed guy.
Chapter 9
There's a picnic. Plasterers arrive to fix the ceiling. One guy says he had worked at the mansion and became ill. Later they see the red-beareded man driving a truck with a dead horse in it and going to the mansion. Nancy hears from Hannah who starts to tell her something about Mr. Drew but the connection fails.
Chapter 10
He's okay. the girls look for George's watch and see a poisonous snake (again, a technique used in The Crumbling Wall). They hear a lion. George finds her watch. A fisherman says the house is haunted. Nancy finds a policeman's badge.
Chapter 11
The red-bearded man appears had has a parrot. Later they catch the missing monkey and hear that June is "changed."
Chapter 12
June is unfriendly. A guy shows up to claim the monkey but he's obviously a liar. They go to Labelle's home-someone is trying to break in, and it's Ramo.
Chapter 13
June is gone with her suitcase. Nancy calls the police. George and Bess find out Ramo has a rap sheet. They also found a name card, a Madam Cully, a supposed psychic.
Chapter 14
The girls go to see her. She has boughta new car. Ramo is there, and George and Bess plan to go to call the police.
Chapter 15
Ramo and the woman escape. While going home Nancy sees a carnival and finds the real owner of the monkey. They later see a garage with the car Ramo was driving in it.
Chapter 16
Ramo and the woman had sold the car and gotten another one. The gas station attendant knows the license number. They talk to the police and Mr. Drew. Later Nancy and the others see a man and a woman in a car going to the mansion. They get a ride from them. Nancy finds a gun.
Chapter 17
The bearded guy shows up, demands the gun, and then grabs it from Nancy and takes off. Labelle has had a heart attack.
Chapter 18
They give the reward money for finding the monkey to Labelle so she can pay for a nurse to help her recover. They get a clue to where the real June lives and take a plane to find her. The pilot gets lost in the fog and the plane crashes
Chapter 19
Nancy finds the injured pilot. She gets hit by a falling tree and wakes up in a room in the mansion. The door is not locked and she's able to leave. She sees a forest fire caused by the exploded plane. She finds the police and goes to the hospital to try and find her father.
Chapter 20
Bess and George arrive. Her father is there, although he's injured and will need to say in the hospital for a couple of days. Later they run into the painter and he tells them a lot about June. They go to where she's supposed to be living but no one is there.
Chapter 21
Her father has been released. They encounter a black maid and there's more of the stereotyped black language. They go to see Labelle and find out Ramo has no brother. The girls return to the mansion and see the woman from the car they had hitched a ride in and they also see Ramo.
Chapter 22
The police are searching for Ramo. The girls go to where they had see him dig and he appears again and digs up some money. They find his car and Nancy disconnects some wires in it. Later Ramo gets ahold of another car and they get in a car chase with him.
Chapter 23
Police arrive and take him into custody. Nancy gets him to confess. He later breaks out of jail, though.
Chapter 24
The police catchhim again and they have a search warrant for the mansion. The next day the girls go there and find a wallet. They talk to the red-bearded man and finds out he's an artist and just wanted to work and not be distrubed. They are in the mansion when a leopard jumps at Nancy.
Chapter 25
June stops the leopard. Nancy tells her about the money she's inherited and the police arrive. They find a good bit of the inheritance money Ramo and Madam Cully had taken under false pretences. Madam Cully later shows up and is caught and the rest of the money is recovered. Ramo and Madam Cully are sentenced to long prison terms.
1971 Text
Chapter 1
Nancy's father is checking personal ads in the paper. There seems to be a coded message in one of the ads. Suddenly there's a car accident outside. Bess and George are in one of the cars.
The police arrive and think the driver of the other car was on drugs (they say this before they even do any drug tests and the guy seems to be unconscious.) Nancy later breaks the personal ad code and it has something to do with NASA.
Chapter 2
A lawyer in Florida is going to be working with Nancy's father on the case of an orange grower named Billington. He's accused of shipping oranges with explosives inside into the launching area. Nancy, Bess and George all go to stay at the guy's home and, while there, When the group arrives at the airport there is no one there to meet them. Ned calls. His parents are going to have a party at a house they have in the same area. The caretakers of the house are the Resardos, and they are very nasty people.
Chapter 3
Nancy checks out an orange packing plant on the grounds. The girls take a speedboat to the Nickerson's place and find out a house nearby is for sale. There is a house nearby that has lots of trees covered with Spanish moss. They hear what sounds like a scream. (Which, for some reason, they basically ignore, going on to other activities rather than calling the police.)
Chapter 4
They go back to the Billington's home. Mr. Drew has passes for the girls to watch the launching. They tour the Kennedy Space Center, and a relative of Hannah's that works there tells Nancy about a personal ad he saw. When they get home they find that personal photos of them are missing.
Chapter 5
Mr. Drew has to return home. An alligator nearly chomps on Bess. The realtor they were to meet about the house nearby they want to buy is not there. Later they play tennis.
Chapter 6
They talk to a guy about the explosive oranges. Hannah finds a clear in a personal ad. Ned calls. The guy they had talked to earlier about the oranges is attacked while calling them.
Chapter 7
Nancy calls the police and then goes there. The guy has been badly beaten and is unconscious. Later Nancy overhears a phone conversation at the house. Antin, one of the caretakers, makes a move to attack Nancy.
Chapter 8
George uses judo on the creep. They all talk. George later follows Antin. She overhears a worker saying that the guy is making a killing for himself. (Which is never really explained). They talk to the realtor and he's really nasty. They finally get the key and have a look at the house they might buy. They again hear a scream or a snarl.
Chapter 9
The girls go onto the property of the Mansion and see a fence with a leopard on the other side. A guy they talk to claims he's raising animals for a circus. They are cages behind the mansion.
Chapter 10
The realtor's name is Scarlett. They see him at the mansion. The lawer in Florida has received a strange note. There's a fire at the orange-packing house and in the trees, and the girls help put the fire out. They go to check out the remains of the packing plant.
Chapter 11
Nancy and George go to pick up Mr. Drew at the airport. Scarlett demands the key to the house be given him immediately. The plane Mr. Drew is on is in trouble, the landing gear not coming down. (Which is basically a major type of event but is really given very little concern, being sort of thrown in there for some reason.)
Chapter 12
The plan lands safely. The Billingtons are there. Nancy finds out a bit about the mansion and she checks other orange groves to find the one the explosive oranges were from. Someone tries to take her purse. She locates the grove the questionable oranges came from.
Chapter 13
Mr. Drew arranges for a health control officer to check out the mansion, and Nancy goes with him. They find a telescope in the house that can see the launching site. In the basement, a heap of furniture starts to fall on Nancy.
Chapter 14
Nancy sees a hidden door. She also sees Scarlett and a guy named Fortin (who lives at the mansion) together. Scarlett had claimed the house the Drews wanted to buy was taken off the market but that turns out to be a lie. Hannah finds another personal ad that has a code.
Chapter 15
Nancy plans a coded message of her own. She uses a rental car but it turns out to be stolen (another thing that has just sort of been thrown into the novel for no discernible reason.) Later Nancy sees the Webster home (the one they want to buy) lit up even though no one is supposed to be there. The place is flooded.
Chapter 16
The house was flooded on purpose. Her father talks to the police later. Nancy finds foot prints on the ground. The boat they came to the house with is stolen. Nancy and Ned get a ride on another boat.
Chapter 17
They find the boat but it won't start. Later they go to Ned's house and have a house party. Later two guys with a fake camera use tear gas on a group with Nancy at the space center.
Chapter 18
Nancy's fake personal ad works. Scarlett adn Antin arrive along with Fortin, showing all three are up to no good. Nancy gets their license numbers. Then she and the others go out shopping and get something to eat, they return to the Billigtons. The police are there and Antin and Tina, both caretakers, have been arrested. Later Nancy and Ned go to the Webster house and find out the leopard is loose.
Chapter 19
The leopard is trapped, sedated, and put into a van. Ned and Nancy ride on top of the van to the mansion and then check things out where they find a beamer weapon of some kind. The learn about Fortin (who may be working for Russia) and overhear the crooks talking about all sorts of background information on what is going on. Nancy and Ned care caught.
Chapter 20
Their friends, the police, other agents and Mr. Drew all arrive and Nancy and Ned are rescued and the bad people caught. The next day they go to see the moon shot.
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