Eleanor Alice Burford was born on September 01, 1906 in Kensington, London. Her father, Joseph Burford, was something of an odd-job man, with no steady profession, but he quickly passed on his great love of books to his young daughter. She was an avid reader from the age of four onwards. In her early twenties, she married a leather merchant, George Percival Hibbert, who shared her love of books and reading.
Eleanor Burford was one of the preeminent English authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century. She used eight pennames during her career and many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities. In 1941, she began signing her novels with her maiden name: Eleanor Burford, later she created her first and most prolific pseudonym: Jean Plaidy. In the 1950's she used the pseudonyms: Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. In 1960, she created the pseudonyms: Anna Percival and the popular Victoria Holt. In 1972, she created her last pseudonym Philippa Carr. (Some of her novels were reedited as different pseudonyms)
She died on January 18, 1993 at sea, somewhere between Greece and Port Said, Egypt. By the time of her death, the novels of Jean Plaidy had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide. Her last novel The Black Opal as Victoria Holt was published posthumously, under this pseudonym, she sold 56 millon copies and as Phillipa Carr, 3 million.
928 works Add another?
Most Editions | First Published | Most Recent
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St. Thomas's Eve
13 editions - first published in 1954 -
The rose without a thorn
13 editions - first published in 1993 Borrow -
Queen of this realm: the story of Elizabeth I
11 editions - first published in 1984 Borrow -
The captive Queen of Scots
11 editions - first published in 1963 Borrow -
The goldsmith's wife
9 editions - first published in 1950 -
The Sixth Wife
9 editions - first published in 1953 Borrow -
The pleasures of love: the story of Catherine of Braganza
9 editions - first published in 1991 Borrow -
Gay Lord Robert: the story of Lord Robert Dudley and Elizabeth I
8 editions - first published in 1955 Borrow -
Myself my enemy
8 editions - first published in 1983 Borrow -
The prince of darkness
8 editions - first published in 1978 Borrow -
The Queen and Lord M
8 editions - first published in 1973 Borrow -
Daughter of Satan
8 editions - first published in 1952 -
The bastard king
8 editions - first published in 1974 Borrow -
The lady in the tower
8 editions - first published in 1986 Borrow -
William's wife
8 editions - first published in 1992 Borrow -
The shadow of the pomegranate
7 editions - first published in 1962 -
Madame Serpent
7 editions - first published in 1951 -
The king's secret matter
7 editions - first published in 1962 -
A health unto His Majesty
7 editions - first published in 1956 -
In the shadow of the crown
7 editions - first published in 1988 Borrow -
Victoria victorious
7 editions - first published in 1985 Borrow -
Indiscretions of the Queen
7 editions - first published in 1970 Borrow -
Madonna of the seven hills
6 editions - first published in 1958 -
The Queen's Secret
6 editions - first published in 1989 Borrow -
The Spanish bridegroom
6 editions - first published in 1954 Borrow -
The thistle and the rose
6 editions - first published in 1963 Borrow -
The Wandering Prince: A Novel of Charles II
6 editions - first published in 1956 Borrow -
Edward Longshanks
6 editions - first published in 1979 Borrow -
The Italian woman
6 editions - first published in 1952 Borrow -
The scarlet cloak
5 editions - first published in 1969 -
The three crowns: the Stuart saga
5 editions - first published in 1965 -
The Plantagenet prelude
5 editions - first published in 1976 -
Royal road to Fotheringay
5 editions - first published in 1955 -
The queen from Provence
5 editions - first published in 1979 -
Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord
5 editions - first published in 1957 -
Beyond the Blue Mountains
5 editions - first published in 1947 -
Queen Jezebel
5 editions - first published in 1953 -
Katharine, the virgin widow
5 editions - first published in 1961 -
The lion of justice
5 editions - first published in 1975 -
Mary, Queen of France: a novel
5 editions - first published in 1964 -
The passionate enemies
5 editions - first published in 1976 -
The battle of the queens
5 editions - first published in 1978 Borrow -
The widow of Windsor
5 editions - first published in 1974 Borrow -
Uneasy lies the head
5 editions - first published in 1982 Checked out -
Louis the Well-Beloved
4 editions - first published in 1959 -
A triptych of poisoners
4 editions - first published in 1958 -
The haunted sisters
4 editions - first published in 1966 -
The Spanish Inquisition: its rise, growth, and end
4 editions - first published in 1967 -
Light on Lucrezia
4 editions - first published in 1958 -
The rise of the Spanish Inquisition
4 editions - first published in 1959 -
Victoria in the wings
4 editions - first published in 1972 -
The prince and the quakeress
4 editions - first published in 1968 -
The princess of Celle
4 editions - first published in 1967 -
Epitaph for three women
4 editions - first published in 1981 -
Katharine of Aragon
4 editions - first published in 1968 Borrow -
The heart of the lion
4 editions - first published in 1977 Borrow -
It began in Vauxhall Gardens
4 editions - first published in 1968 Borrow -
Madame Serpiente
4 editions - first published in 1979 Borrow -
Queen in Waiting
4 editions - first published in 1967 Borrow -
The star of Lancaster
4 editions - first published in 1981 Borrow -
The follies of the king
4 editions - first published in 1980 Borrow -
The revolt of the eaglets
3 editions - first published in 1977 -
Castile for Isabella
3 editions - first published in 1960 -
Caroline, The Queen
3 editions - first published in 1968 -
Who's the target?
3 editions - first published in 1974 -
The third George
3 editions - first published in 1969 -
Blindman's bluff
3 editions - first published in 1976 -
Sitting duck
3 editions - first published in 1972 -
Perdita's Prince
3 editions - first published in 1969 -
Nido de Serpientes
3 editions - first published in 1991 -
Inquiry Skills Development
3 editions - first published in 1998 -
The Queen of Diamonds
3 editions - first published in 1995 -
The Regent's daughter
3 editions - first published in 1971 -
Flaunting, Extravagant Queen
3 editions - first published in 1957 -
Daughters of Spain
3 editions - first published in 1961 -
Isabella and Ferdinand
3 editions - first published in 1970 -
Evergreen gallant
3 editions - first published in 1965 -
El Señor De Far Island
3 editions - first published in 1976 -
Adelante
3 editions - first published in 1999 -
Loyal in Love
3 editions - first published in 2007 Borrow -
Passage to Pontefract
3 editions - first published in 1981 Borrow -
The Queen's favourites
3 editions - first published in 1966 Borrow -
Sweet lass of Richmond Hill
3 editions - first published in 1970 Borrow -
The vow on the heron
3 editions - first published in 1980 Borrow -
The captive of Kensington Palace
3 editions - first published in 1972 Borrow -
The sun in splendour
3 editions - first published in 1982 Borrow -
The Queen's husband
3 editions - first published in 1973 Borrow -
Milady Charlotte
2 editions - first published in 1998 -
El Secreto del Ruisenor
2 editions - first published in 2004 -
Blood Will Out
2 editions - first published in 1975 -
Ven Conmige! Adelante: Holt Spanish Level 1 A
2 editions - first published in 1999 -
Holt World Geography Today: Graphic Organizer Activities with Answer Key
2 editions - first published in 2005 -
Vocabulary Workshop - Answer Keys
2 editions - first published in 2000 -
Sarabande
2 editions - first published in 2003 -
La Reina Jezabel
2 editions - first published in 1983 -
Red rose of Anjou
2 editions - first published in 1982 -
Love all start
2 editions - first published in 1991 -
Hija del Regente, La
2 editions - first published in 1993 -
Call to Freedom
2 editions - first published in 2000 -
La Esposa del Orfebre
2 editions - first published in 1992
Subjects
Places
People
Time
Links (outside Open Library)
Alternative names
- Eleanor Burford
- Elbur Ford
- Kathleen Kellow
- Ellalice Tate
- Anna Percival
- Victoria Holt
- Philippa Carr
- Jean PLAIDY
- Jean AKA Victoria Holt Plaidy
- Jean PLaidy
- PLAIDY JEAN
- JEAN PLAIDY
- Jean Plaidy
- Rinehart and Winston Holt
- Holt Rinehart & Winston
- Rinehart and Winston Staff Holt
- HOLT RINEHART AND WINSTON
- Margaret Carr
- Corazon de Leon
History Created April 1, 2008 · 8 revisions
| August 10, 2011 | Edited by E-Romance | merge authors |
| January 4, 2011 | Edited by Angela myung | merge authors |
| December 8, 2010 | Edited by Alan Millar | merge authors |
| April 12, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Added photos to author pages. |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | initial import |


