Rather than attempting any critical analysis of the Gem myself I'll rely on the experts. Roger Jenkins and Eric Fayne wrote the articles listed below for inclusion in the CD annuals between 1953 and 1959. They were subsequently reprinted in the History of the Magnet and Gem published by the Museum press.

Those Beguiling  Blue gems by Roger Jenkins. This article covers the Gem from 1907-1916 and introduces Tom Merry to the readers.

White Cover Days. This article covers the Gem from 1916-1922. A few good stories, particularly towards the end of the period but too many subs.

Red White and Blue by Eric Fayne. Some promising material at the start of the period 1922-1931 but too many poor sub stories towards the end.

Turn Back the Clock by Eric Fayne. To stop the subs killing the Gem Eric suggested reprinting the Gem from the very beginning. He met some resistance but his idea was eventually adopted and 1931-1939 saw many of the early gems reprinted.

Hail and Farewell by Eric Fayne. The repeats have run their course and Martin Clifford returns as if he has never been away.

Other Gem related CD Articles-

The Tale of the Toff by Roger Jenkins from the Collectors Digest annual of 1987.  Roger describes Talbot's arrival at St Jim's and his reformation. A list of his appearances can be found here.

SCANS

The majority of the Gems have now been scanned and are available for download via the links below. All scanned issues are available in PDF format and many are now available in CBR (Bookreader) format. If you find any errors or incorrect links then please let me know.

I've started to migrate the Gem section to a new format which includes information on the HB reprints and identifies issues which form part of a series. My thanks go to Dr Nandu Thalange for allowing me the use of his spreadsheet and to Roger for automating the page creation process and saving me many hours of work.

A number of Gem indexes have been published over the years. The first was "The Gem Catalogue" published in 1960 by the London Old Boys Book Club which was based on the research of Bill Lofts. This index was "work in progress" and Bill promised to publish a full list of substitute authors at a later date in the Collectors Digest and this subsequently appeared on page 23 of the 1964 Collectors Digest Annual. In 1981 Lofts and Adley published "The Gem Index" which was effectively a photocopy of Derek Adley's notes. The information below on substitute writers is based on the 1981 publication.

The Greyfriars Index website www.greyfriarsindex.co.uk has an comprehensive Gem index. You can access it directly from here.

SCANS OF GEM FIRST SERIES ISSUES 1907-1908                  

          SCANS OF GEM SECOND SERIES ISSUES 1908-1939