The Hal Keen series was written by Percy Keese Fitzhugh using his Hugh Lloyd pseudonym.
It consists of ten volumes published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1931 and 1934.
All ten titles are illustrated by Bert Salg.
Reprints of volumes one and two were later issued as part of the Whitman "2300" series.
The artists for the two Whitman reprints are unknown.
Boys! Meet Hal Keen, that lanky, nonchalant, red-headed youth whose guiding star is the star that points to adventure, excitement and mystery. Follow him in his hunts for clues and criminals. There are plenty of thrills and shivers in these stories to keep you on your toes.
Grosset & Dunlap Advertisement
About The Author
Percy Keese Fitzhugh (September 7, 1876 - July 5, 1950) was born in Brooklyn NY and attended Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, later moving to Oradell NJ with a studio in nearby Hackensack NJ.
The bulk of his work, having a Boy Scouting theme, revolves around the fictional town of Bridgeboro NJ (based on Hackensack and featuring many then current places in the town). Major characters included Tom Slade, Pee-Wee Harris, Roy Blakeley, and Westy Martin. Each of these characters had their own, distinctly different, series of books.
In addition, Fitzhugh contributed Boy Scout stories to a fifth series of books, Buddy Books for Boys, which featured individual stories of other characters and situations by a variety of authors. In all, Grosset & Dunlap published nearly 70 different Fitzhugh titles in these 5 series.
In the 1930's he began writing the Hal Keen Mystery Series under the pseudonym Hugh Lloyd, also published by Grosset & Dunlap. The Hal Keen books were followed by the 3 volume Skippy Dare mystery series, again published by Grosset & Dunlap. Neither of these series achieved the popularity of his earlier Boy Scout work.
Percy Keese Fitzhugh died at his home in Oradell NJ on July 5, 1950 after a long illness; he was 73
publishing information
Style 1 (vols. 1-6): G&D publisher, 7-5/8 x 5-1/4 inches, orange cloth binding, black spine lettering, silver gray, outlined with black, lettering on cover, plain endpapers, frontispiece & 3 illustrations on glossy paper, color dustjacket on glossy paper, different for each story.
Style 2 (vols. 1-10): G&D publisher, 7-5/8 x 5-1/4, gray cloth binding, red lettering on cover & spine, decorated endpapers, frontispiece & 3 illustrations on glossy paper, color dustjacket on glossy paper, different for each story.
Style 3 (vols. 1-2): Whitman publisher, 8 x 5-1/2 (also 7-1/2 x 5), textured composition binding in various colors (red, blue, beige, etc.), black lettering, no illustrations, color dustjacket on glossy paper, different for each story.
