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The Wool-Pack is a children's historical novel written and illustrated by Cynthia Harnett, published by Methuen in 1951. It was the first published of four children's novels that Harnett set in 15th-century England. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising it as the year's best children's book by a British subject.[3]
 Front cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Cynthia Harnett |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Cynthia Harnett |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's historical novel |
| Publisher | Methuen |
Publication date | 25 October 1951 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 184 pp (first edition) |
| OCLC | 621582 |
| LC Class | PZ7.H228 Wo[1] PZ7.H228 Ni[2] |
G. P. Putnam's Sons published the first U.S. edition in 1953, entitled Nicholas and the Wool-Pack: an adventure story of the Middle Ages, an inaccurate title as it is based in the time of Henry Tudor.[2] In 1984 it was reissued under yet another title, The Merchant's Mark (Minneapolis: Lerner). Both American editions retained Harnett's illustrations.
A television miniseries based on the story was broadcast by the BBC in 1970.[4]
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Set in the Cotswolds near Burford, Oxfordshire, The Wool-Pack begins in 1493 when Nicholas Fetterlock, the twelve-year-old son of a rich wool merchant, learns from his father that he is betrothed to Cecily Bradshaw, the daughter of a rich cloth merchant. Within the guild, Nicholas discovers the work of swindlers who could ruin his father's business. Nicholas, Cecily, and a friend determine to stop them.[2][3][5]
Kirkus Reviews called the first U.S. edition (Putnam, 1953) "attractively bound and accurately illustrated". It credited the story with "the feeling of early renaissance unity".[5]
The Wool Pack was adapted by the BBC as a 90-minute film entitled A Stranger on the Hills, televised in 1970 as a three-part series for children. It starred Raymond Millross as Nicholas Fetterlock, with Godfrey Quigley and Thelma Barlow as his parents.[4] The series was filmed by the BBC in Bristol.
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