There is no point in me offering a description of the Gem when Roger Jenkins and Eric Fayne have already carried out this task to such a high standard. Roger and Eric 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 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 index to the scans can be found here.
The scans are saved in PDF format so can be read online or downloaded to your PC for reading (or printing) offline. If there is no hyperlink on the file name then the file is not yet available. Some of the files are saved in Acrobat 6.0 format so you may have to upgrade earlier versions of Acrobat reader. You can download it for free from here.
The scans of the first series of the Gem have mostly been taken from poor quality photocopies and as such aren't up to the standard of the other scans. However they are extremely rare and I am delighted to have them in any condition!
Click on the link to open the files. If you want to save copy of the file to your hard drive then right click the link and select the 'save' or 'save as' option.