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Acknowledgements


This site would not have been possible without the detailed research and commitment of a large number of people over many years. The most significant resources are listed below. More importantly, this site would not be here without the indefatigable efforts of all those individuals who staffed the offices of the old Amalgamated Press, the enthusiastic small publishers post 1940 whose publications first introduced me to Greyfriars school, and of course Charles Hamilton and Edwy Searles Brooks, without whose immensely enjoyable fiction.... Thank you!

Most of the books and magazines described here (and in other pages on this site) are long out of print. You can still pick up copies of some of the books in second hand bookshops if you're lucky. I can also recommend eBay and ABE Books - both sterling sites I've used a lot over the years to bridge the many gaps in my own collection Search periodically for "Billy Bunter", "Greyfriars", "Howard Baker", "The Gem" or "Nelson Lee" and you should quickly gain a clear idea of what's out there and what it will cost you.

You should also visit some of the other fan sites out there, in particular The Friars Club site and Friardale (which has provided the bulk of the Nelson Lee scans - Thank you!), as well as do a general search on Google (or your search engine of choice) for Frank Richards and/or Billy Bunter to find the other major fan sites. See my Links page for the sites that I visit.

Thank you to those books which have provided much of the detail in the listings pages - in particular "McCall's Greyfriars Guide" for Magnet issues I don't possess, "A History of the Magnet & Gem" and "The Gem Index" for Gem issues I don't possess and "Rookwood" for details of the Boys Friend Rookwood stories I don't possess. I've also relied on the British Juvenile Story Papers and Pocket Libraries Index for Boys Friend and Greyfriars Holiday Annual details, and Northern Old Boys Book Club for the Nelson Lee Library listings. The British Film Institute's Film and Television database and the Internet Movie Database both have incomplete details of the television series.

Particular thanks must go to individuals who have provided details from their own collections to complete listings, add rare images to pages, etc - Stewart Clark for the Christmas Show fliers, Pathe news clip and Charles Skilton letters; Chris Haymes for details of the Goldhawk, Mandeville and Spring Books publications; the Morcove discussion group for Cliff House and Morcove listings; Sylvia Reed for the Schoolgirls' Own scans; and Nandu KS Thalange for details of the Carcroft stories, post 1940 Hilda Richards stories and Glendenning's Book of Sport for Boys and Bumper Book listings.

And thank you to Friardale and the Nelson Lee Preservation Project for permission to provide their scanned copies of the Nelson Lee Library. Nothing quite beats reading the original magazines, but the scanned copies come a close second.

For more information about Charles Hamilton, aka Frank Richards, Martin Clifford, Owen Conquest et al, try Charles Hamilton's own autobiography "The Autobiography of Frank Richards", W.O.G. Lofts & D.J. Adley's "The World of Frank Richards", Maurice Hall's "I Say You Fellows" and Mary Cadogan's "The Chap Behind the Chums".  I can also recommend Mary Cadogan and Patricia Craig's "You're a Brick Angela!" for an in-depth and entertaining look at girls fiction, and the Museum Press publications. E.S. Turner's "Boys Will Be Boys" is also an entertaining (though somewhat dated) read.

 


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