Voyages In Time ~ Family, Friends & Places - Jan Struther

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Jan Struther 1901-1953
D. Litt. University of Pennsylvania 1943

Jan Struther's individual poems and articles have not been included as they are too numerous to list here. There are about 135 items in her "cuttings" album for 1914-1928 and another 150 in her subsequent (1928-1932) album.

However, selected individual poems and articles first published in England and/or America were later published in the books listed on this site. In fact, she never wrote a book which was not a collection of her newspaper or magazine contributions. For instance, Mrs Miniver was first published anonymously - as fortnightly articles on the court page of The Times Newspaper (London). RMG

Bibliography
Mrs. Miniver
Updated 23-Dec-04
1. Mrs. Miniver
2. Other Printed Works
3. Audio, Film & Video

This bibliography has been compiled by Jan Struther's son, Robert Maxtone Graham. He assisted his daughter, Ysenda Maxtone Graham in the preparation of her biography of Jan Struther, "The Real Mrs. Miniver - Jan Struther's Story", launched in November 2001 by U.K. publishers, John Murray.

For further details contact the publisher - click on JM logo or e-mail: John Murray - publishers

Biography

One day my life will end; and lest

Some whim should prompt you to review it,

Let her who knows the subject best

Tell you the shortest way to do it;

Then say, "Here lies one doubly blest."

Say, "She was happy." Say, "She knew it."

Jan Struther

(from "Betsinda Dances and Other Poems")

e-mail if you have further information
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS ARE INVITED

EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF MRS. MINIVER
BRITISH PRINT EDITIONS

MRS. MINIVER by Jan Struther. First edition, Chatto & Windus, 1939. Originally published in pink-labelled slip case. Often reprinted, e.g. 7th edition, re-set, 1942; 8th edition, 1942; 11th edition, 1943. These later editions were on thin wartime paper. The 1943 hardback was the first English edition to contain the essay "Mrs Miniver makes a list".

New Phoenix Library, 1950 - small hardback 219 pp, wrapper decorated in the house style with five heraldic phoenixes.

Virago, 1989 paperback, with introduction by Valerie Grove.
Virago Modern Classics - 2001 - paperback, introduction by Valerie Grove.
Reviewed by Isobel Montgomery - Saturday November 24th, 2001 - Mrs Miniver Jan Struther - (Virago 2001) - She would never be a wobbler, Mrs M, in her Chelsea house with the table laid for tea (crumpets, of course). As war threatens, Struther's creation, an upper-middle-class mother of three, delights in the everyday - husband Clem, invitations, shopping and weekends away to the house in Kent. Easy to mock this Panglossian worldview, and hard to imagine Mrs Miniver not keeping up her blitz spirit, but Struther's heroine has more of her creator's zest than Greer Garson's Hollywood portrayal, and is perfectly construed. Such domestic aperçus are the traditional fare of newspaper back sections; the genre could have no better model than Struther's lightness and ease. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001

Futura, 1980. ISBN 0708816576 - The first British paperback, with an introduction by the author's eldest son, J.A. Maxtone Graham.

Information and sales

< image link

Puffin, 1994 Paperback.


Time Warner, UK
Virago imprint
Australia November 1996
PB 198 x 129mm
176pp
ISBN 1853810908
AU$21.00.

Lythway Press
Bath, 1972.
ISBN 0850463246
with introduction
by J. A. Maxtone Graham.

Click image for full view.

Large print Editions:

Oxford, ISIS, 1990.

Large print edition.
ISBN 014036675X.

Also

Thorndike Perennial Bestsellers

SBN: 0783896352 Author: Struther, Jan Publisher: Thorndike Press Subject: Married women Subject: Large type books Subject: General Subject: Humorous fiction Subject: Domestic fiction Large Print: Yes Series: Thorndike Perennial Bestsellers (large print) Series Volume: 01-179 Series Info: G.K. Hall large print perennial bestseller series. Publication Date: November 2001 Binding: Hardcover Language: English Pages: 175 Dimensions: 9.44x6.42x.74 in.

INTERNATIONAL PRINT EDITIONS
(This list is incomplete and further information is invited)

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

MRS. MINIVER, by Jan Struther. New York, Harcourt Brace, 1940. This was the first American edition, chosen as the Book of the Month. Often reprinted. It is said that by August 1941, Americans were buying 1500 copies per day of Jan Struthers' Mrs. Miniver.

"Photoplay" edition, brought out in association with the film (qv next page) - New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1940; reprinted 1942.

The following information is courtesy of Richard Dalby of Yorkshire, England. He believes there is some confusion over the "Photoplay" edition of Mrs Miniver. Apparently, this edition was first issued in 1942, not in 1940. The book states that it is "Copyright 1940", which leads to the confusion. He is certain that 1942 was the first Grosset & Dunlap publication date. Robert Maxtone Graham tends to agree. He writes, "It seems that Grosset & Dunlap gave confusing dates to other "Photoplay" editions of works; for instance, "Dracula" says "Copyright 1897" and contains no mention of the publication date, 1931 in that case."

Robert Maxtone Graham also writes, "Richard Dalby is a collector of modern first editions, and shares with fellow-collectors a passion for original dustjackets. True, the existence of a dustjacket has a huge effect on value. For instance, my first edition of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' is in a battered state, worth only a few pounds. A fine copy with dustjacket sold at auction in 1998 for £80,700. The auctioneers reckoned that without the jacket it would have made about £3,000. Richard Dalby suggests that this bibliography should indicate which of Jan Struther's books were issued in a dustjacket. The problem is that I simply don't know. The first edition of Mrs Miniver was issued in a slip-case rather than a dustjacket."

Readers with information are invited to make contact. 27/02/02 - Courtesy of Bev Placzek, some of this information has now been received regarding some of these, together with copies of the volumes in question.

MRS. MINIVER, by Jan Struther Paperback edition: New York, Pocket Books, 1942.
Hardcover edition - Amereon Ltd; ISBN: 0884116778 June 1978
Paperback, with introduction by Armistead Maupin, New York, Harper & Row, 1985.
Large print edition, Garden City, International Collectors' Library, no date.
Paperback Re-issue edition (1990) ISBN 0156631407 - (viii, 153p.; 21 cm) Harvest Books (pictured) - Edition with introduction by Greer Garson. San Diego, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. Copy at Library of Congress.

"Authorized Abridgements of Current Best Sellers", Omnibook Magazine, New York, October 1946, is said to include an abridgement of Mrs Miniver.

SWITZERLAND Mrs Miniver erlebt die Vorkriegszeit. Uebertragung aus dem Englischen von Anna Katharina Rehmann. Hardback. Bern, Alfred Scherz Verlag, 1943. Copy at Swiss National Library. 256 pp. Wrapper decorated with coloured drawing of of a supposed Greer Garson in front of 'the Miniver's house'.

CANADA Toronto: The MacMillan Company, 1942 First Canadian Edition: Hard Cover, 8vo, 213 pages. Introduction - "Meet Mrs. Miniver. Mrs. Miniver is British. She is also international. She is the universal, heart-warming symbol of the endurable ... " Also 2nd and 3rd Canadian editions.

AUSTRALIA Braille edition, Braille Writers' Association of Victoria Melbourne, 1943. Mrs. Miniver [braille] / [Jan Struther]. Annerley, Qld.: Queensland Braille Writing Association. 1 v. of interpoint braille.

JAPAN Japanese editions, Tokyo, 1958 "Miniva Fujin" - abridged by Eiji Kurosawa; Kenkyusha, Shawa 33 & Tokyo, 1968 "Miniva Fujin" - abridged by Eiji Kurosawa; Kenkyusha, Shawa 43.

Monod Penguin Books Australia -

Club du Livre du Mois FRANCE "Mrs Miniver" par Jan Struther. Extraits présentés par S. Monod, Agrégé de l’Université. Paris, Classiques Hachette, Collection Atlantique, 1949. A pamphlet of 86 pages, containing fourteen of the Mrs Miniver chapters in English, edited for schools and with scholastic footnotes, questionnaires, and revision exercises. The chapters were selected "with the author’s help and according to her own preferences.

Also

Jan Struther , MISS MINIVER - Dans la collection: chefs d'oeuvres d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Ouvrage relié, numéroté: 3018, d'une série limitée de 4910 Livres. Edité pour le Club du Livre du Mois en 1957.

BELGIUM Mrs Miniver, roman, par Jan Struther. Translated by Berthe Vulliemin. Paperback, Editions de la Paix, Charleroi, no date. Copy at Avignon Public Library.

DENMARK Mrs. Miniver - Jan Struther - av Kristine Jesperson; Published: Jesperson, København, 1941. 156 s.

NORWAY Translated by Kathleen Kent. Paperback, with images from the film on front and back. Oslo, Ernst G. Mortensen, 1946. Copy at Library of Congress. Wrapper with integrated pose - Greer Garson in hat and jabot.

SWEDEN Mrs Miniver - Jan Struther; Från engelskan av Sonja Bergvall; Published: Stockholm: Bonnier 1941 - 292s. Republished [övers.: Sonja Bergvall] Edition: Ny utg. Published: Stockholm - B. Wahlström 1969 - 255 s., wrapper decorated with a coloured drawing of a modernised 'Swedish-style' interpretation of Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver, clutching 'Judy' during an air raid.

FINLAND Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther, translated into Finnish by Jouko Linturi. Kanervan Kustannusliike, Lahti, 1950. 294 pages, soft covers- wrapper with b&w photo pose - Greer Garson in hat and jabot.

HUNGARY Miniverne nagy sagosasszony (Mrs Miniver). Jan Struther. Forditolta Heltai Jeno. Budapest, Kersztes Kladas. No date, 194-? Copy at Cleveland Public Library, Ohio. (Miniverné nagyságos asszony (regény) Bp., 1940 - Kötött)

CUBA Rosa de abolengo (Mrs Miniver). Jan Struther. La Habana, 1943. "Varias novelas cortas por Stefan Zweig". Copy at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

ARGENTINA Temblor de otono. Titulo en ingles: Mrs Miniver. Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Editorial Juventud Argentina, 1941. Copy at Library of Congress.

ITALY - La Signora Miniver. Translated by Giorgio Jarach. Paperback, Mondadori, Milan, 1945, 1946, 1954, 1965 and 1979. Hardback edition, Club Degli Editori, Milan, 1974. School edition, with notes by Lilla Caruso, Milan, Mondadori, 1972.

MEXICO Rosa de abolengo (Mrs Miniver), traduccion de J.S. Arasi, Mexico City, Ediciones Argos, 1943. Copy at Library of Congress.

On-line HTML VERSIONS OF MRS. MINIVER

"Mrs. Miniver" - "A Celebration of Women Writers"- is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. The Centenary Edition - June 6th, 2001 - is now on line. It incorporates the 1989 Virago edition introduction by Valerie Grove.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth, Jan Struther's son, Robert Maxtone Graham, has authorised the creation of an internet edition of her best-known work, the celebrated Mrs. Miniver (1939). At that time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Jan Struther that 'Mrs. Miniver' had considerably hastened America's entry into the war; and Winston Churchill said that 'Mrs. Miniver' had "done more for the Allies than a flotilla of battleships".

It is particularly fitting that this on-line edition should be hosted at the University of Pennysylvania, since Jan Struther received an honorary degree of D. Litt. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943.

Following the successful launch of Mary Mark's internet edition of 'Mrs. Miniver', Robert Maxtone Graham and his daughter, Ysenda Maxtone Graham, have authorised the electronic publication of Jan Struther's 'collected works'. Access to these may be found below, adjacent to the listed work.

A Celebration of Women Writers - 'A Celebration of Women Writers' is developed by Mary Mark in collaboration with the On-Line Books Page, edited by John Mark Ockerbloom. It recognizes the contributions of women writers throughout history. Its goal is to promote awareness of the breadth and variety of women's writing. This site is pleased to recommend and support "A Celebration of Women Writers".