The Strand Magazine

George Newnes, Ltd., 3 - 13, Southampton Street and Exeter Street, London

The Strand Magazine was probably the most famous of the illustrated story magazines that proliferated in the early 20th century. It was published from January 1891 to March 1950, a total of 710 monthly issues. The magazine published many of the stories about Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle as well as stories by P.G. Wodehouse, E. Nesbit and H.G. Wells. I have searched The Strand from January 1911 (vol 41) to December 1939 (vol 98), a total of 342 issues (volume 53, July to December 1917 is missing from the British Library).

Only one issue of The Strand containing original drawings by Blampied has been found: they were published in December 1911, so were among his first drawings to be printed after his work for The Daily Chronicle in 1905 and 1906. Nothing original by Blampied has been found in print between December 1906 and November 1911, a period of just under 5 years. What was he doing to make a living? And where was he living? I wish I knew. Blampied's work also appeared in the January 1912 issue of Wide World Magazine, which was also published by Newnes and he designed the cover of one paperback published by Newnes in 1914, but it might have been issued earlier.

An issue of The Strand in March 1934 contained an illustrated feature on Blampied's drawings in 1933-34 for The Illustrated London News, and they reproduced one of them in an article in September 1934.

Numbering: Volumes of 6 issues, January to June then July to December, all issues sequentially numbered

Price: 6 pence, then 1 shilling in the 1930s.

Pages: 36 pages, then 100 pages in 1930s

Dimensions: 245 x 170 mm

Editor: William Comyns Beaumont

Cover of the Christmas double issue in December 1911

Printer: Newnes & Pearson Printing Company, Ltd., N. Kensington, in the 1930s.

Blampied issues: 1 + 2 with reprints

Type: MO = monochrome drawing; CO = colour drawing; the number indicates the number of drawings or pages.

See also:

Mike Ashley (2006) The Age of the Storytellers. British Popular Fiction Magazines 1880-1950. London & Delaware, USA: The British Library and Oak Knoll Press

The Strand Magazine at FictionMags Index.

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— 1911 —

Issue: Dec-1911, vol. 42, no. 252, page 758-762. Price: 1 shilling. Type: MO6. Title: Stories I have heard told. Author: Marshall P. Wilder. Illustrated by E. Blampied.

— 1934 —

Issue: Mar-1934, vol. 87, no. 519, page 288-297. Price: 1 shilling. Type: MO11. Title: Studies of London Life Author: Frank Rutter. Ten illustrations reproduced from The Illustrated London News and a self-portrait of Blampied in pen and ink.

Issue: Sep-1934, vol. 88, no. 525, page 318-324. Price: 1 shilling. Type: MO1. Title: First Nights Author: W.A. Darlington. One illustration reproduced from The Illustrated London News.