The Nelson Lee Library

The Nelson Lee Library was a story paper of the first third of the 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press. It featured the adventures of private detective Nelson Lee and his boy assistant Nipper.

The Nelson Lee Library
Cover The Nelson Lee Library #1 from 1915
CategoriesStory paper
FrequencyWeekly
First issue1915 (1915)
Final issue1933 (1933)
CompanyAmalgamated Press
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based inLondon
LanguageEnglish

Overview

Nelson Lee was created by John William Staniforth, writing under the name Maxwell Scott, in 1894. Lee made his debut in A Dead Man’s Secret in The Halfpenny Marvel #46. The detective was an immediate sensation and continued to feature in many of the Amalgamated Press papers over the next twenty years.[1] In 1915 the Amalgamated Press acquired the exclusive right to use the name Nelson Lee from Staniforth for £50. That same year it launched The Nelson Lee Library, a weekly paper devoted to stories about Nelson Lee and Nipper. Despite wartime restrictions, the paper achieved a circulation of 70,000 within its first three months.[2]

The first issue of The Nelson Lee Library was published on 12 June 1915, entitled "The Mystery of Limehouse Reach" and written by Sexton Blake writer A. C. Murray. Many other popular Blake writers would pen Lee tales including William Murray Graydon, William J. Bayfield, George Hamilton Teed, Norman Goddard, and Edwy Searles Brooks.

Series 1 ran from 12th June 1915 until 24th April 1926, a total of 568 issues.

Series 2 ran from 1st May 1926 until 18th January 1930, a total of 194 issues.

Series 3 ran from 25th January 1930 until 18th February 1933, a total of 161 issues.

Series 4 ran from 25th February 1933 until 12th August 1933. The Nelson Lee Library then merged with The Gem.

A few issues of note: Maxwell Scott wrote just four adventures for the paper that bore his greatest creation's name, A Miscarriage of Justice (1915), The Convict's Dilemma (1915), In Borrowed Plumes (1915), and When Rogues Fall Out (1916). The Spendthrift was George Hamilton Teed's first Nelson Lee tale. It was followed by Twenty Fathoms Deep Edwy Searles Brooks debut Lee tale. Teed following on the wild success of his Sexton Blake creation Yvonne Cartier, gave Nelson Lee his first female foe: The Black Wolf, a cross-dressing martial arts aristocrat. She would match wits with Lee and Nipper in various locations around the world.[3] Not to be outdone, Brooks introduced Eileen Dare the female detective in Nelson Lee's Lady Assistant (1916).[4] She appeared with Lee in 14 adventures. Brooks was instrumental in launching the second phase of Lee's career. In "Nipper at St. Frank's," (Nelson Lee Library #112, 28 July 1917,) Lee and Nipper while fleeing from a Chinese Triad hide out at St. Frank's, a "venerable public school" in the Bellton area of Sussex. When the case at last was solved, Lee joined the faculty as headmaster and Nipper enrolled as a student. The two remained there for the next sixteen years solving mysteries and having advanetures around the world, often with friends and Nipper's classmates.[5]

Series 1: The Pre-Friardale Cases

Each issue contained a complete detective story.

  1. The Mystery of Limehouse Reach by A. C. Murray
  2. The Case of the Secret Room by Mark Darren
  3. The Clue of the Straw Sailor's Hat by William Murray Graydon
  4. The Case of the Interned Detective by A.C. Murray
  5. The Great Submarine Mystery by Unknown
  6. Stolen Property by Unknown
  7. A Miscarriage of Justice by Maxwell Scott
  8. The Convict's Dilemma by Maxwell Scott
  9. Nelson Lee - Cracksman by William Murray Graydon
  10. Shadowed by Two by Mark Darren
  11. The War Factory Mystery by Unknown
  12. British to the Backbone by Unknown
  13. In Borrowed Plumes by Maxwell Scott
  14. The King's Bad Bargain by Unknown
  15. The Spendthrift by George Hamilton Teed
  16. Twenty Fathoms Deep by Edwy Searles Brooks
  17. The Black Wolf by George Hamilton Teed
  18. The Case of the Duplicate Key by George Hamilton Teed
  19. The Secret of the Swamp by George Hamilton Teed
  20. Not Guilty by A. C. Murray
  21. The Terror of Troone Towers by Edwy Searles Brooks
  22. Edges of Steel by George Hamilton Teed
  23. The League of the Green Triangle by Edwy Searles Brooks
  24. The Case of the Tube of Radium by George Hamilton Teed
  25. The Specialist's Last Case by Edwy Searles Brooks
  26. The Crystal Urn by George Hamilton Teed
  27. The Gold Cavern by Edwy Searles Brooks
  28. The Forged Fingerprints by Edwy Searles Brooks
  29. The Three Millionaires by Edwy Searles Brooks
  30. A Mystery of Venice by George Hamilton Teed
  31. The Frozen Man by George Hamilton Teed
  32. The Prison Breakers by Edwy Searles Brooks
  33. Amazement Island by Edwy Searles Brooks
  34. Robbery Wholesale by George Hamilton Teed
  35. The Mummy Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
  36. The Mystery Man Of Lhassa by George Hamilton Teed
  37. The House of Fear by Edwy Searles Brooks
  38. The President's Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
  39. The Lightning Clue (Jim the Penman) by Edwy Searles Brooks
  40. The Red Menace by George Hamilton Teed
  41. The Buried Invention by Edwy Searles Brooks
  42. The Great Will Forgery by Edwy Searles Brooks
  43. The Robbery at Ponder's Bank by George Hamilton Teed
  44. The 'Doctored' Racehorse by Edwy Searles Brooks
  45. The Forged Marriage Lines by Edwy Searles Brooks
  46. The Last of the Genghis by George Hamilton Teed
  47. The Ship of Doom by Edwy Searles Brooks
  48. When Rogues Fall Out by Maxwell Scott
  49. The Forged War Orders by Edwy Searles Brooks
  50. The Great Club Raid by Edwy Searles Brooks
  51. The Mystery of the Moor by Edwy Searles Brooks
  52. At Half Tide by George Hamilton Teed
  53. Zingrave's Last Card by Edwy Searles Brooks
  54. The Mystery of the Mail Van by Edwy Searles Brooks
  55. The Man with Four Identities by George Hamilton Teed
  56. The Case of the Fatal Flight by A. S. Hardy
  57. Nelson Lee's Lady Assistant by Edwy Searles Brooks
  58. The Crimson Disc by George Hamilton Teed
  59. The Ribbon of Light by Edwy Searles Brooks
  60. The Mystery of the Turret by Edwy Searles Brooks
  61. The Golden Boomerang by George Hamilton Teed
  62. The Amazing Case of the Lost Explorer by Edwy Searles Brooks
  63. The Spectre of Scarcroft by Edwy Searles Brooks
  64. The Plague Ship by Edwy Searles Brooks
  65. Against The Law by Edwy Searles Brooks
  66. The Mystery of the 10.20 Express by Edwy Searles Brooks
  67. The Crook by George Hamilton Teed
  68. The Great Insurance Swindle by Edwy Searles Brooks
  69. The Mystery of Barron Hall by George Hamilton Teed
  70. The House in the Hollow by Edwy Searles Brooks
  71. The Clue of the Raincoat by George Hamilton Teed
  72. The Secret of the Martello Tower by Edwy Searles Brooks
  73. Blue Diamonds by George Hamilton Teed
  74. The Caves of Silence by Edwy Searles Brooks
  75. The Night Before the Trial by Edwy Searles Brooks
  76. The Affair of the Nabob's Jewels by Edwy Searles Brooks
  77. The House of Hazard by Edwy Searles Brooks
  78. A Christmas of Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
  79. The Mystery of the Closed Door by George Hamilton Teed
  80. A Mid-Atlantic Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
  81. The Plantation Mystery by George Hamilton Teed
  82. Harlo the Hypnotist by Edwy Searles Brooks
  83. The Broken Vase by George Hamilton Teed
  84. Tracked to the Trenches by Edwy Searles Brooks
  85. The Circle of Terror by Edwy Searles Brooks
  86. The Great Air Mystery by George Hamilton Teed
  87. Millions at Stake by Edwy Searles Brooks
  88. The Yellow Mask by Edwy Searles Brooks
  89. A Stubborn Case by George Hamilton Teed
  90. Monn the Miser by Edwy Searles Brooks
  91. The Mystery of the Footlights by Edwy Searles Brooks
  92. The Man Hunters by George Hamilton Teed
  93. The Brass-Bound Box by Edwy Searles Brooks
  94. The Monk of Montressor by Edwy Searles Brooks
  95. The Secret of Crooked Reef by Edwy Searles Brooks
  96. Nipper's Note Book by Edwy Searles Brooks
  97. The Manor House Mystery by Edwy Searles Brooks
  98. Fangs of Steel by Edwy Searles Brooks
  99. The Mystery of the Grey Car by Edwy Searles Brooks
  100. The Clue of the Twisted Ring by Edwy Searles Brooks
  101. Behind the Door by Edwy Searles Brooks
  102. The Secret of Melsey Island by Edwy Searles Brooks
  103. The Sheriff of Blazing Gulch by Edwy Searles Brooks
  104. The Hovering Peril by Edwy Searles Brooks
  105. The Ivory Seekers by Edwy Searles Brooks
  106. Cast on the Shore by Edwy Searles Brooks
  107. Loot by George Hamilton Teed
  108. The Kidnapped Stockbroker by George Hamilton Teed
  109. The Case of the Crimson Feathers by Unknown
  110. The Affair of the Duplicate Door by Edwy Searles Brooks
  111. The Yellow Shadow by Edwy Searles Brooks

Howard Baker Collections

New Collections

Further reading

References
  1. Andrew, Lucy (2017). The Boy Detective in Early British Children's Literature, Chapter 4. Springer.
  2. Wood, John P. (August 1949). "Leaves from the Diary of Maxwell Scott, Part 6". Collectors Digest Vol3 #32. p. 213.
  3. Wood, Jack (1954). "A Dead Man's Secret: Nelson Lee in Fact and Fiction". Collectors Digest Christmas Annual #008. p. 39-40.
  4. Caldicott, Mark (February 1992). "Nelson Lee Column: Into His Stride". Collectors Digest Vol46 #542. p. 6.
  5. Andrew, Lucy (2017). The Boy Detective in Early British Children's Literature, Chapter 4. Springer.
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