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The Boy's Own Paper
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The Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.
The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society, as a means to encourage younger children to read and to instill Christian morals during their formative years. The first issue was published on 18 January 1879. The final issue, a "Special Souvenir Edition, Price 2/-", was dated February 1967 and was published on 27 January 1967. It was a facsimile reprint of the first issue, complete with adverts. It had a panel on the front cover giving a very brief history and stating that it would "appear in future as the BOY'S OWN ANNUAL, edited by Jack Cox".
The paper was launched in January 1879 and published weekly until November 1913, when it became monthly. In total, 2451 issues of the paper were published. There was a separate Christmas Number (edition) of the magazine from 1884–85 until 1912–13 (29 in total) and a separate Summer Number from 1884–85 until 1900–01 (17 in total). These were not part of the annual volumes. In many years the issue nearest Christmas was enlarged (as was the price) and billed as a Christmas special.
From 1879 each year's issues were bound together and sold as the Boy's Own Annual. Volume 1 finished in September having completed 37 issues, then volume 2 started a cycle in which each volume followed the school year (Autumn through to Summer). In the initial years, readers were invited to purchase covers at the end of the publishing year and have the weekly issues bound. This produced some interesting minor variations in order and contents. The Annuals included all the text in the weekly (and later monthly) issues, with additional illustrations.
For reasons now unknown, volume 54 (1931-32) was limited to ten issues, so volumes 55 to 57 ran from August to July. Volume 58 started in August 1935 with parts 1 and 2, then was re-started at page 1 in October 1935, with another part 1. At the same time, the price was halved from one shilling to sixpence, and the number of pages was reduced from 64 to 48. The earlier parts 1 and 2 were not included in the Annual Volume or its index, leaving two 'orphan' issues.
The Annuals ceased publication after the 1940–41 edition as a result of wartime paper rationing. Later attempts at a smaller format annual, under Jack Cox's editorship, were the Boy's Own Companion from 1959 through 1963, and the Boy's Own Annual II from 1964–65 through 1975–76.
In 1939, the publication was taken over by Lutterworth Press, and in 1963 by Purnell and Sons Ltd. It was published at the end of its life in 1967 by BPC Publishing Ltd, who are believed to have started publishing the paper in 1965.
The contents usually included adventure stories and stories about public-school life; notes on how to practise nature study, sports and games; instructions for how to make items (including canoes); puzzles and essay competitions. One of the stories in the opening issue was "My First Football Match", the first of many by Talbot Baines Reed set in public schools (Reed, who had not in fact attended such a school, later became the paper's first assistant editor); and the first volume's serials included "From Powder Monkey to Admiral, or The Stirring Days of the British Navy". In the same volume, Captain Matthew Webb contributed an account of how he had swum the English Channel in 1875.
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The Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.
The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society, as a means to encourage younger children to read and to instill Christian morals during their formative years. The first issue was published on 18 January 1879. The final issue, a "Special Souvenir Edition, Price 2/-", was dated February 1967 and was published on 27 January 1967. It was a facsimile reprint of the first issue, complete with adverts. It had a panel on the front cover giving a very brief history and stating that it would "appear in future as the BOY'S OWN ANNUAL, edited by Jack Cox".
The paper was launched in January 1879 and published weekly until November 1913, when it became monthly. In total, 2451 issues of the paper were published. There was a separate Christmas Number (edition) of the magazine from 1884–85 until 1912–13 (29 in total) and a separate Summer Number from 1884–85 until 1900–01 (17 in total). These were not part of the annual volumes. In many years the issue nearest Christmas was enlarged (as was the price) and billed as a Christmas special.
From 1879 each year's issues were bound together and sold as the Boy's Own Annual. Volume 1 finished in September having completed 37 issues, then volume 2 started a cycle in which each volume followed the school year (Autumn through to Summer). In the initial years, readers were invited to purchase covers at the end of the publishing year and have the weekly issues bound. This produced some interesting minor variations in order and contents. The Annuals included all the text in the weekly (and later monthly) issues, with additional illustrations.
For reasons now unknown, volume 54 (1931-32) was limited to ten issues, so volumes 55 to 57 ran from August to July. Volume 58 started in August 1935 with parts 1 and 2, then was re-started at page 1 in October 1935, with another part 1. At the same time, the price was halved from one shilling to sixpence, and the number of pages was reduced from 64 to 48. The earlier parts 1 and 2 were not included in the Annual Volume or its index, leaving two 'orphan' issues.
The Annuals ceased publication after the 1940–41 edition as a result of wartime paper rationing. Later attempts at a smaller format annual, under Jack Cox's editorship, were the Boy's Own Companion from 1959 through 1963, and the Boy's Own Annual II from 1964–65 through 1975–76.
In 1939, the publication was taken over by Lutterworth Press, and in 1963 by Purnell and Sons Ltd. It was published at the end of its life in 1967 by BPC Publishing Ltd, who are believed to have started publishing the paper in 1965.
The contents usually included adventure stories and stories about public-school life; notes on how to practise nature study, sports and games; instructions for how to make items (including canoes); puzzles and essay competitions. One of the stories in the opening issue was "My First Football Match", the first of many by Talbot Baines Reed set in public schools (Reed, who had not in fact attended such a school, later became the paper's first assistant editor); and the first volume's serials included "From Powder Monkey to Admiral, or The Stirring Days of the British Navy". In the same volume, Captain Matthew Webb contributed an account of how he had swum the English Channel in 1875.
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