The first 'Girl' s Own Annual' ran from January to September 1880. It was made up of 39 weekly GOP magazines bound together, and these each carried a number of their own, 1 - 39. Page numbers ran consecutively right through the Annual. The second Annual Volume, which started in October 1880, began with weekly magazine number 40, and ran until September 1981; its page numbers again started at 1. All subsequent Annuals followed this October - September pattern, the weekly magazine being numbered consecutively throughout the run of Volumes, and the page numbers starting from 1 again at the beginning of each Annual. Numbering of the weekly magazines continued without interruption from January 1880 until September 1908, finishing with weekly magazine number 1500.
Each yearly part carried a consecutive Volume Number, given in Roman Numerals on the title-page of each Annual and each weekly magazine. Some Annuals carry a year on the spine, and this is usually, but not always, the year in which the Annual finishes.
Weekly magazines were discontinued in October 1908, and the GOP thereafter appeared only as a monthly and an Annual. Within each Annual, the monthly parts retained their title pages, but the dates on these title pages were dropped. Volume numbers usually appear on the spines of the Annuals, but dating of Annuals can be a problem. Here is a helpful rule:- add the Volume number to the date 'l879', this will give the year in which the Annual ended. Thus, Volume 50 started in October 1928 and ended in September 1929.
After Volume 51, the GOP continued to be on sale as a monthly,
but the title pages of the monthlies were no longer bound in with
the Annuals; from within the Annual, it is not easy to see where
one monthly ends and another begins. Volume numbers can be found
only from the spine. These are given in Roman Numerals up to
Volume 56; after that, numbers are in normal Arabic numerals. The
series of Annuals ends with Volume 62, 1940 - 41. After that the
GOP itself became much smaller, finally ending publication in
1956. The present index covers only the Annual Volumes, up to the
end of Volume 62.
The contents of the index to the Girl's Own Paper is © Honor Ward. Parts of the index may be used and distributed for any non-commercial activity as long as this notice remains with the index. Corrections and queries to the please.