Front cover of The Menace of Tang Wang! by Frank Richards, S
Colour front cover of The Menace of Tang Wang! by Frank Richards, part of the Schoolboys Own Library, No. 269, published in 1936. The cover shows the evil Tang Wang being stopped in his tracks just in the nick of time from murdering someone in their bed by a well-aimed flying book.
The Schoolboys Own Library was established in 1925 by C M Down as a means of reprinting earlier stories from the Magnet, Gem, etc. Sub editors at the Amalgamated Press would select and edit the stories, and the original author would be paid an honorarium for the re-use of his story. Originally two volumes were published each month, containing 64 pages, but from issue 167 each volume was expand to 96 pages.
The series came to an end due to the paper shortages of World War II. From issue 394 the price increased from 4d to 4 1/2d, from issue 409 the page count decreased to 64 pages, and the last three intended issues (412-414) were not published
