British Children's Magazines, 1888 - 1915

A collection of 4 sets of homemade magazines designed, written, and illustrated by 3 different groups of British children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“The Three Half-Moons” (1888-9) and “The Boy’s Treasure” (1891-5) were created by N.A. de Cobain of Swinefleet, Goole in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. They take the form of various popular “Boy’s Own” publications of the era – cartoons, jokes, and serialized adventure stories, all charmingly illustrated. They take the form of various popular “Boy’s Own” publications of the era, with a particular interest in stories of crime and punishment and tales of adventure abroad. “The Three Half-Moons” is an earlier effort, featuring handwritten text in a looping child’s cursive, while the production value of the later “Boy’s Treasure” is unusually high: the layout and drawings are of a good quality, and mechanical copies appear to have been made, perhaps via hectograph or other early duplication process. One bound volume and 18 loose issues of 2 folded sheets each. Also included is an unfinished work “The Brotherhood of Blood” purporting to be part of “The Boy’s Budget Library” apparently an offshoot of “The Boys Treasure.” Only one paragraph and a few illustrations are present. “The Three Half-Moons” (1888-9) appears to be an earlier effort by N.A. de Cobain, written and illustrated in pencil and pen-and-ink. Two bound volumes (Nos. 2 and 3).

“Gwynneth” (sometimes “The Gwynneth”) is a magazine created by and for three members of the Gillies family, residing at Redholme, Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. The “Editress” – as she calls herself – is Margaret “Madge” Gillies, and the treasurer her sister Josephine “José” Gillies. Photographs of the two are pasted into No. 7 (March 1908). Other contributors include a third sister, Doris Gillies, and a friend who refers to herself only as “Agnes Grey” -- possibly a pseudonym. Each issue begins with a letter addressed “Dearest Chicks” and the general contents include jokes, recipes, facts about flora and fauna, updates on Mrs. Gillies’ Pekingese puppies, and serialized stories accompanied by a variety of illustrations. Each issue is written in a variety of inks on lined paper, hand-bound with colored cord or embroidery thread. The eponymous “Gwynneth” is occasionally referenced but her identity is unclear: she may be named after Gwynneth de Cobain (1891-1973), the younger sister of the boy behind “The Three Half-Moons” and “The Boy’s Treasure” – the Gillies briefly lived in Goole at the same time as the de Cobains and it possible the families knew each other. 12 issues dating from March 1908 to December 1909.

“The Chieftain” (1914-15) is a magazine created by a boy or group of friends in South West England. Postal addresses in Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare are provided for the magazine’s editors, one of which can be traced to the family of Francis George Stone, who appears to be the driving force behind “The Chieftain.” He was a student at Clifton College, a boy’s school in Bristol, and it is possible that the magazine was produced for Stone’s classmates there. This may be the same F.G. Stone who would later become a journalist and art critic for the London-based Jewish Chronicle and Country Life magazine, where he published as Peter Stone. Their birth dates and places match, and Clifton College records show that the student F.G. Stone’s father was H. Slater Stone, a Bristol journalist of some repute and it is possible that the son followed in his father’s footsteps. Other names present in the magazine (possibly pseudonyms for Stone himself) are not readily identifiable, but include James Netley, S.W. Crowe, A.S. Hall, F. Stanley Miles, H.J. Evison, John Dulverton, W.Y. Markham, H. Yates-Addis, and J. Ripley Donaldson. Stone includes numerous photographs, both taken with a Brownie camera and cut from printed sources, including members of the royal family and a picture of Charlie Chaplin subtitled “Monarch of the Movies.” Unique to this magazine is a section on world events, including “War Notes” – updates on the ongoing First World War. 6 issues, 4 from 1914 bound with staples and 2 from 1915, one unbound and one bound with string.

All should be handled with care. A curatorial file contains correspondence concerning Scheetz’s preliminary research into the Gillies family.