Collecting the Romany Books
    

(Latest news on books, Summer 2011:: Another new Romany Book: "Romany on the Fells " by Phil Shelley and Leonard Hollands. For details visit the News page or click here for the flyer.
A new Romany book - "Romany in the Lanes" by Phil Shelley and Ray Leonard Hollands has been published. For details visit the News page or click here for the flyer. AND a facsimile edition of Hotchi the Hedgehog, the first of the Romany Readers books is aslo now available. More details are on the News page)

Listings of all the Romany books, and the various spin-offs and tributes, are given on the Romany books page.   This page gives additional information for those interested in collecting them - either simply to complete a set, or to make a serious collection of first editions!

There is a detailed article about collecting the books in the January 2002 edition of the Book & Magazine Collector Magazine (for details about obtaining this and other Romany articles see the Articles and Links page).    

Obtaining the books:

All the Romany books can be bought second-hand - provided you are determined and, for some volumes, have patience.  Many were reprinted in some quantity and reprints with or without dust-jackets can be fairly easily found. 

The first and early editions, especially those complete with dust-jackets are difficult to find, and often expensive.  Some volumes were not reprinted and these are also difficult to obtain.  Listings of Romany books for sale online can be found by following this link to BookFinder.com (NB this link is to books by 'Evens' with 'Romany' in the title - do try your own combinations too - and remember Evens is often misspelt as the more common 'Evans'!).

The listings below show covers of most of the books, both in original and reprint bindings.   Click one of these links to move down the page quickly:

• The four Epworth Press books by Romany

• The six University of London Press books by Romany

• The Out with Romany Calendars and the School Readers:

• Books by Romany's son, Glyn Evens: 

• Biographies and tributes

The first four Epworth Press books by Romany are:
(Click on the covers for bigger pictures and use your browser's back button to return to the page)

A Romany in the Fields 1929  

First dustjacket 1929	Decorative binding 1929	Detail 1929	Dustjacket 1940s	Paperback edition 1958 (Koala book no.7)	Hardback 1958 - matching p/back

A Romany and Raq 1930  

First dustjacket 1930	Decorative binding 1930	Detail 1930	Dustjacket 1936 onwards	Dustjacket 1940s	Paperback edition 1958 (Koala book no.4)	Hardback 1958 - matching p/back

Romany and Raq continued....
	N E W ! ! Reprint 2003 (Large Print - from ISIS Ulverscroft)	N E W ! ! Audiobook 2003 (from ISIS audiobooks)

A Romany in the Country 1932  

First dustjacket 1932 (by 'The Tramp')	Later 1930s dustjacket (by 'Romany of the BBC'	Dustjacket 1940s	N E W ! ! Reprint 2002 (Large Print - from ISIS Ulverscroft)	N E W ! ! Audiobook 2002 (from ISIS audiobooks)

A Romany on the Trail 1934  

First dustjacket 1934	Dustjacket 1940s	New DJ, mid-50s, matching the paperbacks (above)

(back to top of page)

The six University of London Press books by Romany:
( Click on the covers for bigger pictures and use your browser's back button to return to the page)
At least one of these (Out with Romany Once More) was also published in a cheap edition by the Children's Book Club or CBC)

Out with Romany 1937 

First dustjacket 1937 onwards	First binding 1937 onwards

Out with Romany Again 1938 

First dustjacket 1938 onwards (early ones in colour)	First binding 1938 onwards	Original and wartime economy bindings compared

Out with Romany Once More 1940

First dustjacket 1940 onwards	First binding 1940 onwards	Title pages from Children's Book Club (CBC) edition 1943	Original, wartime economy and CBC  bindings compared

Out with Romany by the Sea 1941

First dustjacket 1941 onwards	First binding 1941 onwards

Out with Romany by Meadow and Stream 1942

First dustjacket 1942 onwards	First binding 1942 onwards

Out with Romany by Moor and Dale 1944

First dustjacket 1944 onwards	First binding 1944 onwards

(back to top of page)

The Out with Romany Calendars and the School Readers:
( Click on the covers for bigger pictures and use your browser's back button to return to the page)

The Out with Romany Calendar (University of London Press)

1941 Cover	1941 sample page (photocopy)	1941 sample page (photocopy)	1943 cover

Walks with Romany (E J Arnold 'Broadcast Echoes' No 25)

The Romany Readers (University of London Press)

1 Hotchi the Hedgehog (reprint available 2008)	2 Smut the Hare	3 Flash the Fox	4 Spook the Barn Owl

5 Pete and Prue the Partridges	6 Nick the Weasel	7 Billy the Squirrel	8 Sleek the Otter

(back to top of page)

Books by Romany's son, Glyn Evens: 
( Click on the covers for bigger pictures and use your browser's back button to return to the page)

Romany Muriel and Doris 1939 (by ‘Raq’) (University of London Press)

First dustjacket 1939 onwards	First binding 1939 onwards

Romany Turns Detective 1949 (University of London Press) 

First dustjacket 1949	First binding 1949

Romany on the Farm 1952 (Epworth Press)  

First dustjacket 1952	Paperback edition c1964 (Koala Book 15)

Romany’s Caravan Returns 1953 (Epworth Press)  

First dustjacket 1953

(back to top of page)

Biographies and tributes:
( Click on the covers for bigger pictures and use your browser's back button to return to the page)

Through the Years with Romany 1946 (Eunice Evens) (University of London Press)  

First dustjacket 1946

Spirit of Romany 1949 (H L Gee) (St Hughes Press)

First dustjacket 1949

Romany Returns 1995 (by Guy Loveridge) (Douglas Loveridge Publications)

A Romany in Cumberland 1999 (video)  (Border TV/Arena Broadcast)  Striding Edge VHS

(back to top of page)

Under construction below.....
1993  Taken on Trust (by Terry Waite) (Coronet)  

1996  Footfalls in Memory (by Terry Waite) (Coronet)  

1972  The Biggest Aspidistra in the World (by Peter Black).  (BBC Publishing)  A chapter on the BBC ‘Uncles and Aunties’ describes Romany’s part in Children’s Hour history.

1997  Gypsy from the Forest (by David Lazell).  (Gwasg Bryntirion Press) This is a new biography of Gipsy Rodney Smith, Romany’s Evangelist Uncle.  It contains a passage about Romany.

1900 (many later editions) Gipsy Smith: His Life and Work, By Himself.  Autobiography of Gipsy Smith, Romany's Evangelist Uncle.  Several references to Romany (as Bramwell Evens)

1991 The Storytellers (by Simon Appleyard).  (This England Books) Contains a chapter devoted to Romany

1988  BBC Children's Hour (by Wallace Grevatt).  Contains a number of sections about Romany.

1997  Romany Society Magazine Reprints.  The original Romany Society journal (1946 - 1965) has recently been reprinted by Macclesfield Borough Council in one volume.