Raymond Sheppard and Everybody's Weekly (Part One)

I've decided to turn off 'Lightbox' on this blog, so now you just click on the image to see the larger version

Everybody's 1953 May 2 Cover

Everybody's 1953 May 2 page 20
Nearer to God than gold

Magazines (as opposed to their more academic cousins, 'journals') are not often written about so their history is often left in the hands of fans. I suspect on retirement (or after I finally finish the Frank Bellamy biography) I might tackle this as a new project. Ephemera can often define a culture and its time so much better than the few repeating images and facts. For example think of the Queen's coronation and you see images from Picture Post, a television picture or two. But the printed ephemera was so much more unusual.


Anyway I'm straying too far from the point here...Raymond Sheppard's work for Everybody's. I have yet to go through a complete run from his lifetime but own enough (31 stories) to give a good showing here (and in later posts) beginning with the cover above with Her Majesty on it.

Everybody's Weekly [1913] A general weekly tabloid magazine which contained a short story each week, including some by Edgar Wallace. 

Issues & Index Sources 
14-Mar-1913 – 18-Apr-1925, as The Competitors' Journal 
25-Apr-1925 – 13-Aug-1927, as Competitors' Journal and Everybody's Weekly 
20-Aug-1927 – 2-Jun-1928, as Everybody's Weekly and Competitors' Journal 
9-Jun-1928 – 25-Jan-1930, as Everybody's Weekly 
1-Feb-1930 – 25-Apr-1959, as Everybody's: 
Merges with John Bull  

Publishers: 
Everybody's Publications Ltd., 114 Fleet Street, London E.C.4. (absorbed into the Amalgamated Press in Jul-1950) 

Editors  
1924 – 1935: Rubeigh James Minney
in 1940s: Greville John Poke 
c. 1956 – 1959: Edward Holmes

Information taken from William G. Contento - and others' - always excellent Fictionmags index 

The above issue contains the story by Stephen Phillips "Nearer to God than gold". Fictionmags has not yet indexed this copy of Everybody's, but does have a listing of his other works of fiction (perhaps this might be my other obsession in retirement!). He was 'fl.1923-1940' which means he was active during this period (Wikipedia) and if I have the same Phillips - and his other entries match the right type of magazine - then we could extend that to 1953, at least. However the index also has another Phillips who wrote between 1954-1974. I searched the British Library catalogue but no information that I could tie up - so no books by a Phillips who operated after 1915 (the most famous one died then). I checked and don't have any other stories by him in the Everybody's I own.


Sheppard painted one cover for Everybody's and there is one article I know of that mentions him in it.Let's have a look at that article now and leave the cover for a later posting.

Everybody's 1951 October 20 Cover with Kay Kendall

At the bottom left of the cover it says "Animal painters give a show" and the article appears on pages 16-17 as reproduced below

Everybody's 1951 October 20 p.16

Everybody's 1951 October 20 p.17

The article is titled "Four feet on canvas" by Marita Ross, who, according to the Tate Archives was "Marita Ross (Mrs Leeson), 1889? - 1978, artists' model and journalist". Here she writes “The newly formed Society of Animal Painters, Sculptors and Engravers is holding an exhibition until October 26 at the Cooling Galleries. Old Bond Street, London. [...]Sir Alfred Munnings P.P.R.A. [is] most appropriately its President”`. The article goes on to talk about Vernon Ward, Peter Scott, Charles Simpson, ex-Squadron leader H. E. Hervey, Dame Laura Knight, Charles Chaplin and May B. Lee  - some of whose work is illustrated . 

"The original of this painting by Raymond Sheppard of Polar Bears chasing seals is in watercolours" states the caption under Sheppard's lovely picture, which to date I have not found. The exhibition took place at the Cooling Galleries which appears to have closed shortly after (not to be confused by another gallery opening in the 1970s of the same name). which "until mid-1970's [were] at 92 New Bond Street when it moved to 37 Albermarle Street. The gallery merged with Newman & Co to become Newman & Cooling and eventually closed in the late 1980's." - Source: Artist Biographies

Everybody's 1951 October 20 p.17
Polar bears and seals

I am always amazed at how prolific Raymond Sheppard was and the fact he also exhibited including once with Fortunino Matania, is incredible but that's a story for another day.