NMLP P-038998 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19

The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew #1)

Carolyn Keene (Mildred Wirt Benson) · Grosset & Dunlap (New York) · 1930

US-only precedence; the census claim stands. Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1930 is the sole true first — there is no competing UK or original-language edition. The book was written by Mildred Wirt Benson under the Stratemeyer Syndicate house name Carolyn Keene, but that authorship point has no bearing on edition precedence.

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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-038998 for "The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew #1)" by Carolyn Keene (Mildred Wirt Benson) (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-038998, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).