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CLIFFORD**, MARTIN [pseud Frank Richards**] : TOM MERRY'S PARTY. [HOWARD BAKER GEM VOLUME No,9.]

LONDON.HOWARD BAKER PRESS LTD.,(GREYFRIARS PRESS) 1979.

ISBN 0703001744.

UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,3 colour-block facsimile illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - one tiny,tiny nick to rear lower edge - no other tears present. Dw/dj's rear inner flap has a vertical diagonal crease to 3/4s of it's length.Top +fore-edges slightly aged/toned but generally bright and clean,contents bright,tight and clean - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright,clean,unblemished, publisher's original,plain green cloth bds with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white eps.UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn, comprising 7 school stories published by The Amalgamated Press,from The GEM 1937, includes b/w+3 colour-block facsimile reproduction illustrations,b/w facsimile contemporary advertisements and stories. The last red,white+blue GEM was the Christmas number of 1937.It was a sad day for the many thousands of devotees of that famous boys' paper to read within its pages that their favourite weekly was to become a 'pocket-sized',buff-coloured edition - in appearance at least a mere ghost of its former self.Of course the announcement told of all the advantages and improvements heralded by the change, but it is doubtful whether many readers appreciated these when the new 'pocket' edition appeared the following Wednesday. The Gem had first adopted its famous red, white and blue cover back in 1922,and it is doubtful if any but the oldest readers in 1937 remembered it being anything else. The last years of the coloured Gem had been the era of the reprints: stories of St. Jim's from the earliest days,some rather sadly and badly pruned,but a golden era nonetheless,with many memorable stories.The distinctive and much-loved cover would be sorely missed on the bookstalls.In this latest (then 1979) volume is a selection from the last months of the familiar coloured cover,all by Charles Hamilton,under his pen-name Martin Clifford.In addition to a number of entertaining singles featuring most of the St. Jim's characters,the volume ends with a famous trio which sees our heroes off on a winter holiday in Paris,culminating in breath-taking adventures at the haunted Chateau Cernay.This issue was the very last red,white and blue GEM ever to appear,and this in itself makes it a copy to be treasured.Besides the main St Jim's adventures,the Gem at this time was also running stories of the early days at Greyfriars.Thus,from all points of view, this latest volume is a very special and attractive one,and should appeal strongly to both collectors and to new readers alike. The writing phenomenon known to the world as Martin Clifford,but who was also well known and much loved by generations of readers as Frank Richards and Owen Conquest,died at his home at Kingsgate in Kent on Christmas Eve,1961,at the age of eighty-six.His real name was Charles Hamilton,and by the time that he died it is conservatively estimated that he had written - under one name or another - the equivalent of one thousand full-length novels.His work appeared continuously for over thirty years in those famous Fleetway House magazines 'The Gem' and 'The Magnet'.Undoubtedly the most famous of all his immortal creations was Billy Bunter, the Fat Owl of the Greyfriars Remove, whose exploits together with those of Harry Wharton and Co.,appeared in the latter paper from 1908 to 1940. Almost equally well-known was his uniquely memorable character,the Hon. Arthur Augustus D'Arcy,the Swell of St. Jim's,ably supported in GEM stories by Tom Merry, Jack Blake, Talbot (the Toff), Dr. Holmes and many others.Altogether,the brilliant character studies of boys, masters,and local citizens of which he was capable ensured Charles Hamilton's place in the hall of literary fame.This great story-teller loved writing for the young and affirmed that no writer could do any better work in life.Certainly,no-one did it better than he. Please contact seller,because of the weight and the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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