The second Jill book, A Stable for Jill, was also abridged when it made its way into Knight paperback. The cuts weren’t as dramatic as in Jill’s Gymkhana, and the changes that were made seem to reflect social changes: rationing was over, Charles Laughton wasn’t as well known as he had been, and most people no longer had maids. Cars no longer had the sort of indicator that flicked out from the side of the car. Richmond Show no longer existed.
But as in Jill’s Gymkhana, the papeback Jill was not allowed to wear make up. The solitary reference to lipstick has been deleted. It’s odd that in what was a decade when girls were allowed to behave in ways Jill wouldn’t have dreamed of, make up wasn’t allowed.
The illustrations were changed: Knight used Bonar Dunlop’s illustrations (of which there were 13), a drastic cut from the 29 Caney illustrations in the original.
The two versions compared are the Hodder and Stoughton first edition from 1951, and the Knight paperback from 1988.
Many thanks to Hazelhunter on my forum, who did all the work in this section

In the section below, the first page number is the first edition and the second number corresponds to the paperback. This list isn’t necessarily definitive: we’ve tried to be as careful as possible, but can make no guarantee about accuracy or completeness.
General notes
- Quotation marks are double in the first edition, single in the paperback.
- Words such as ‘realised’ and ‘sympathised’ have been spelt with a ‘z’ e.g. ‘realized’ ‘sympathized’.
Text changes
The Cold World for Me
- Pg 11/10. Olympia becomes Wembley.
- Pg 19/15. The thirty pounds Jill’s mother gives her is raised to forty pounds and is for all subsequent references.
- Pg 19/16. Pocket money of two pounds is raised to three pounds.
Home Life at Cecilia’s
- Pg 20/17. Description of what Jill does with her hair has been altered from: ‘Taking off my hair slide and rolling my hair up at the front and sides and putting in Kirbigrips’ to ‘Taking off my hair-band and combing it out so it hung around my face’
- Pg 21/19. ‘Without putting out her indicator’ is changed to ‘Without using her indicators at all’.
- Pg 26/23. ‘Aunt’s maid’ becomes ‘Aunt’s help’
- ‘Dig me out some carrots’ becomes ‘Dig me some carrots’ (mistake?)
- ‘Mack’ becomes ‘mac’
- ‘Soul-less’ becomes ‘soulless’
- Pg 26/23-24. Syntax of third paragraph (ten lines) has been altered removing the ‘sick making’ reference and mention of mothballs and adding the idea that if she wore her horsy clothes she wouldn’t feel so bad about not being able to ride.
Horsy People at Last
- Pg 28/25. ‘Hallo’ becomes ‘Hullo’ (x3)
- Pg 29/26. ‘Richmond Horse Show’ becomes ‘Royal International Horse Show’.
- Pg 29/27. Reference to the Walters’ father reminding Jill of Charles Laughton in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ has been removed.
- Pg 30/27. ‘Jill’s Gymkhana’ is in italics in the paperback.
- Pg 31/28. A subsequent reference to Charles Laughton has been replaced with ‘As bad as I had imagined’.
Exile or Worse
No changes
Ideas about Ballerina
No changes
Three More Horses
- Pg 55/53. ‘would fetch it for about three bob’ has been changed to ‘would fetch it for us cheaply’.
- Pg 57/54. ‘Four bob’ becomes ‘fifty pence’; ‘Half a crown’ becomes ‘thirty’.
Walters and Crewe Ltd
- Pg 66/60. ‘gollopped’ is re-spelt ‘golloped’.
- Pg 67/63. ‘Aunt’s maid’ becomes ‘Aunt’s help’.
- Pg 70/95. ‘brushed our hairs’ becomes ‘brushed our hair’.
- Pg 71/65. LTD. Becomes LTD (and subsequently).
People Want to Ride
- Pg 73/69. Changes in currency:
- Four shillings to twenty five pence
- Ten shillings to sixty five pence
- Seventeen and six to ‘pound’
- Pg 76/72. Seventeen and six to ‘pound’.
- ‘It’ll probably be about five pounds any-way’ changed to ‘It’ll be five pounds at least’.
Stable Trouble
- Pg 81/76. ‘Good gracious!’ she said looking round and walking backwards into Ballerina…’ has been altered to: ‘Good gracious!’ she said gazing round with a look of astonishment on her face and walking…’
- Pg 83/79. Eight shillings to fifty pence.
- Pg 85/80. ‘Where they very kindly got me the Cable Office on the phone and I phoned my message’ has been altered to ‘where I handed in my message’.
- Pg 85/81. ‘supper gong’ becomes ‘tea gong’
- Pg 86/82. The reference to the coloured darning skeins has been deleted.
- 2/- becomes 12 ½ p
How not to buy Horses
- Pg 90/87. Reference to the lipstick being ‘a very dark experienced looking red’ has been deleted.
- 2/- becomes 12 ½ p.
- Pg 92/89. ‘nineteen or twenty pounds’ becomes ‘thirty pounds’
- Pg 92/89. ‘eighty pounds’ to ‘a hundred pounds’
- Forty pounds to sixty pounds.
- Pg 94/91. fifty pounds to seventy pounds
- twenty pounds to thirty pounds
- ten pounds to twenty pounds
- eleven to twenty one
- twelve to twenty two
- thirteen to twenty three
- eighteen to twenty eight
- nineteen to twenty nine
- twenty to thirty.
- Pg 94/92. twenty one to thirty one
- twenty two to thirty two.
- Pg 96/92. ‘whizzo’ becomes ‘super’.
- Pg 97/94. twenty two to thirty two.
And as for Pedro
- Pg 98/93. twenty two to thirty two.
- Pg 105/102. thirty pounds to forty pounds
- twenty seven to thirty seven.
Begorra is a Success
- Pg 111/108. thirty pounds to forty pound.
- Pg 112/109. ‘three bob’ to ‘twenty five pence’
- The ‘stinging you’ term has been deleted.
- Pg 114/112. The ‘two shilling piece and a shilling for Alison’s lesson’ is changed to ‘twenty five pence for Alison’s lesson’.
Cecilia’s Birthday
No changes
A Great Day at the Stable
- Pg 131/129. Invitation has lost its full stops.
- 1/- becomes 5p.
- Pg 135/132. ‘not our butter ration’ becomes ‘not your father’s butter’
- Pg 137/134. Two paragraphs (eight lines) removed describing Agatha complaining that they had used up a week’s tea ration for four. The reference to Jill describing the next lot of tea as very weak but they were use to it in ‘these days’ is also removed.
- Pg 138/136. ‘shilling’ becomes ‘penny’.
- ‘nine pounds twelve shillings’ becomes ‘nine pounds sixty five’.
- ‘eight pounds fifteen shillings becomes ‘eight pounds seventy five’.
- Pg 139/136. ‘One more little tiny pot of tea’ becomes ‘one more pot of tea’.
I am Knocked for Six
- Pg 145/143. soul-less is changed to soulless.
- Pg 147/145. ‘Coffee out of the Cona’ is changed to ‘coffee and milkshakes’.
- Pg 148/146. thirty pounds to forty pounds
- Fifteen pounds to twenty pounds
- Forty five pounds to sixty pounds.
There’s a Coincidence
- Pg 153/150. Air ministry becomes Met. Office.
- Pg 159/158. Forty five pounds to sixty pounds.
Changes to Illustrations
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN FIRST EDITION (Caney)
- Frontispiece: Jill in plaits and jodhpurs sitting holding her hands together.
- Pg 13. Blackboy nuzzling Jill’s shoulder.
- Pg 14. Jill looking round the door at her mother at the typewriter.
- Pg 16. Jill feeling dismal sitting on her bed.
- Pg 18. Jill with her mother who is holding a wallet behind her back.
- Pg 21. Cecilia and Aunt Primrose meeting Jill arriving on the train.
- Pg 25. Jill standing on a gate enticing the working mare.
- Pg 30. Jill meeting Mike, Bar and Pat who are sitting on a gate.
- Pg 33. Jill trying Ballerina.
- Pg 50/51. Three separate headshots of Bungie, Mipsy and Dot.
- Pg 53. Jill holding a bridle approaching one of the horses.
- Pg 56. Bar, Mike and Jill carrying tack out of the stable.
- Pg 61. The children cleaning and whitewashing the stable.
- Pg 62. Bar holding Dot. Jill and Pat running with halters.
- Pg 63. Mipsy.
- Pg 70. Jill nailing up the Walters and Crewe sign while Mike, Bar and Pat watch.
- Pg 80. Mipsy and Jill exhausted after grooming him.
- Pg 95. Begorra at the auction with Bar in a bowler and Jill wearing the ‘glasses’.
- Pg 99. Jill looking at ‘Pedro’ harnessed to the timber cart (and wearing blinkers).
- Pg 109. Jill with Major Foster and Alison looking at the stable.
- Pg 117. Pedro looking over a half door at Bar holding a bucket.
- Pg 120. Jill on Begorra.
- Pg 121. Bar on Ballerina.
- Pg 130. Jill sitting on Pedro who is facing away.
- Pg 133. The children writing out the invitations.
- Pg 141. (Also cover impression) Mipsy? Looking over a half door at Dot.
- Pg 150. Bar on Ballerina and Pat on Begorra cantering.
- Pg 151. Jill on Pedro and Mike on Mipsy cantering.
- Pg 159. Jill waving and pulling along Mipsy.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN 1988 KNIGHT EDITION (Bonar Dunlop)
- Pg 18. Jill carrying a suitcase along the station while Cecilia and Aunt Primrose watch.
- Pg 25. Mike, Bar and Jill looking over a gate at Ballerina and Pat sitting on a gatepost.
- Pg 61. Jill holding Bungie while Mike leaps onto him.
- Pg 68. Jill and Bar meeting Major Foster at the stable.
- Pg. 93 Jill in ‘glasses’ and Bar in a bowler at the auction, bidding.
- Pg. 97 J. Biggs with Pedro harnessed to the cart.
- Pg. 110 Jill teaching Alison to ride while Major Foster watches.
- Pg. 117 Jill on Begorra and Bar on Ballerina cantering.
- Pg. 135 Major Foster standing on the mounting block thanking the ‘hosts’.
- Pg. 145 Major Foster and Jill talking at a table at the George while Pat, Bar and Mike.
- look at pictures in the background.
- Pg. 154 Bar on Ballerina competing in the bending.
- Pg. 157 Jill waving and pulling along Mipsy.