The Concise Magnet  COMPANION '86

A complete list of every Greyfriars story published In the magnet from Its Inception In 1908 to Its closure In 1940, together with Illustrations and biographical Information on editors.

An up-to-date Guide to Greyfriars Press and book Club editions.


ISBN 0 7030 0295 3

Magnet & Gem Facsimile Editions

William Howard Baker was an author, editor and publisher.  As a boy, he had fallen under the spell of Frank Richards, the writer responsible for the stories in THE MAGNET.

It was Bill Baker's idea to reprint THE MAGNET in facsimile, and to publish them in book form.  It was a formidable task, but by the time of Baker's untimely death in 1991, over 200 volumes of facsimiles had been published, not only of THE MAGNET, but also a number of issues of its companion paper, THE GEM, and several other contemporary juvenile weeklies. 

This fully-illustrated book will be of great interest to collectors. since it not only lists all the reprinted titles, but gives details of their contents and story lines.  It also gives a list of those original issues which were not reprinted.  Of special interest to the many collectors of these facsimiles, and indeed, of the original weekly issues, is the price guide at the end of the book.  Fully indexed.

ISBN: 0 9523485 0 0                           

The Complete Magnet Companion 1996

The aim of this volume is first to list the school stories which were written for THE MAGNET - all 1,683 of them. The stories are shown in the order in which they were written, with references to interesting characters, and showing how the stories were grouped into series There is a section which lists the stories alphabetically, and other features explaining how Greyfriars stories were used in other publications.  The well-known Howard Baker reprints are indicated, fully cross-referenced against each title.  This listing is now complete.

The artists - Chapman, Shields and others - also find a place here, as do those writers who 'filled in' when Charles Hamilton was not available to provide his unique contribution, for collectors and others will need to know exactly who wrote what and when.

Also  Greyfriars memorabilia: the characters, the School, the studies and who inhabited them, and a Who's Who of Greyfriars characters.  This is the definitive listing of THE MAGNET stories.  It should find a place on the library shelves of all who loved the old boys' paper and what appeared in it, recapturing the joys of yesteryear.

ISBN: 0 9523485 1 9