Jinny: Publishing History

Jinny Series: Publishing History
The Jinny series appeared first in paperback, and was published by the paperback division of Collins, Armada. The original titles appear wonderfully period now (though when I bought the early titles of course they appeared perfectly normal. I wore those flared jeans; those skinny-rib sweaters). The titles underwent three major paperback reprints that I know of, plus one (possibily incomplete) hardback run:

First paperback style: banner title style
As far as I know, only the first seven titles appeared in this format. The Magic Pony has a blue background and a larger font style for the title, and was the last title I have seen which appeared in this format. The titles weren’t numbered. To see all this style’s titles in one go, please click here.

Second paperback style: white horseshoe cover
All the titles appeared in this style, which introduced numbering on the front covers, enclosed by a white horseshoe. Oddly, the same horse and rider combination don’t appear on all the titles. They are there up to number 10, but number 11 is a painting, and number 12 is the Jinny and Shantih from the original printing. To see all this style’s titles in one go, please click here.

Third paperback style: gold horseshoe cover
Again, all the titles appeared in this style. It is numbered, and each cover has a gold horseshoe. To see all this style’s titles in one go, please click here.

Other paperback reprints:
Pavilion reprinted the series with two titles in each book. Each title was reprinted, and I have had them all at one time or another but managed not to photograph them. Some of the cover shots from the Gold Horseshoe edition are used, but presumably there were some unused photographs from the shoot, as these appear on some titles. These books were the last printing, and the series is now out of print.

Hardback
The Jinny series’ true first editions were in paperback by Armada. Severn House, the library edition arm of Collins, did reprint some of the series in hardback with laminated boards, although For Love of a Horse appeared as a hardback with dustjacket. The Severn House editions used the cover shots from the white horseshoe editions.

Whether all titles were printed in this edition, I do not know. I have not been able to find any evidence of Severn House editions of Night of the Ride Horse, Gallop to the Hills, Jump for the Moon, Horse of Fire or Running Gold. Most of the laminated/hardback editions are not particularly easy to find.

Illustrations
The Jinny books were not fully illustrated: some editions have the black and white illustration to the left.

Almost all the books had photographic covers, with the exception of the white horseshoe edition of Horse of Fire, which has an uncredited picture.

Finding the books
The hardest titles to find are the last three: Jump for the Moon, Horse of Fire and Running Wild. The first 8 titles are easy to find; 9 a bit more tricky. None of the titles are impossible to find, and they are usually all on offer on the usual websites. The hardest task to set yourself is to collect the series in hardback: they really don’t appear that often, and prices have increased of late. The books were also translated into German, and are readily available on ABE and Ebay.