Click for Index

The Chatterbox ranks amongst the top Victorian & Edwardian children’s story papers,  published in Britain continuously from 1st December 1866 through to the mid-1950’s, and in the US from 1870 until 1933.  It was briefly published in Canada as well (1929‑33).

The paper was founded in Derby by the Rev. John Erskine Clarke, M.A. (1827-1920) who was also the Editor until 1902, after which Harvey Darton took over.  Clarke subsequently became the Vicar of Battersea for 37 years, and a Canon of Southwark.

Canon Clarke

First page of
first edition

April 1873

Initially it was a weekly paper which many people meticulously saved and had bound privately , but very quickly bound Chatterbox Annuals were sold as well.

The paper was published in London for its first years (1866-70) by William Macintosh, then subsequently by W. Wells Gardner (from 6 July 1870 ), Wells Gardner Darton (from about 1886), Simpkin Marshall (from 1929) and finally Dean (from about 1936) until its demise in the mid-1950s.

For the 60 years that Well Gardner were publishers, two versions of the cover page were printed each week, one for the weekly and the other for the annual.    Click right for examples.

The weekly paper was sold for a halfpenny, or for one penny with a separate loose colour plate in some editions. Many of these colour plates were not included in the Annual version.  Cases for binding the weeklies could be purchased for one shilling.

The Chatterbox Annual sold for 3 shillings (“fancy board”) and 5 shillings (Cloth, richly gilt with gilt edges).  Examples of both versions can be found below.

Weekly & Annual versions

Tatcho Ad

Although a children’s story paper, the publishers clearly expected adults to be reading from it (presumably to their children). By 1900 many of the cover advertisements were aimed at adults, a particularly memorable example being the ad for TATCHO Hair Restorer !

Interesting to note that only the cheaper 3s. version carried these ads. The 5s cloth & gilt ‘presentation’ version remained free of commercial ads for most of its life, except for lists of other children’s books at the back of some editions.

Identical versions of the Chatterbox Annual were published in the USA for $1.25 in Boston by Estes & Lauriat and subsequently Dana Estes, LC Page, and Cupples Leon (NY) etc..  There were also pirate copies produced in the US in the 1880’s

Scanned extracts from the 1870 Edition

Scanned extracts from the 1870 Edition

Were versions published in any other countries ?   Volumes 62 to 65 (1929 to 1932) were published in Toronto by Ryerson Press.

Please e-mail me if you can fill in the missing years or correct any of the dates or send me new cover designs. I would particularly like to know when the American editions started and finished. Did they stay with the same publishers  (Estes & Lauriat / Dana Estes of Boston, LC Page, and Cupples Leon) ?

I am happy to include acknowledgements and web links to contributor’s pages.

If you wish to see a copy of Chatterbox,  Project Gutenberg have scanned and published the American (Dana Estes & Company) version of the 1905 edition at their eBook web site.

Just follow this link:-

Project Gutenberg