Young Folks (magazine)


Young Folks was a weekly children's literary magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1871 and 1897. Its publishing office was initially in Manchester, then relocated to London in 1873. It is most notable for having first published a number of novels by Robert Louis Stevenson in serial form, including Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Black Arrow.
It enjoyed a wide demographic appeal, as the test of time as shown, unique compared to contemporary publications. First sold for one half-penny with eight pages, the price was increased to one penny in 1873 and the page count increased to sixteen. Its motto was To Inform, To Instruct, To Amuse.
Young Folks went under a number of different names in its 26-year history:
  • Our Young Folks' Weekly Budget
  • * as Young Folks' Weekly Budget
  • * as Young Folks' Budget
  • Young Folks
  • Young Folks' Paper
  • Old and Young
  • Folks at Home
The proprietor and sometimes editor of the magazine was James Henderson. Young Folks serialised Treasure Island in Volumes 19 and 20 from 1 October 1881 to 28 January 1882. It ran under the title Treasure Island; or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola and under the pseudonym Captain George North. It made little difference to the sales of the magazine. Robert Leighton recalled that: "The boy readers did not like the story. As a serial it was a failure. Boys like a story to plunge at once into the active excitement..."
The Black Arrow—published under the same pseudonym—was serialised between 30 June and 30 October 1883. As a serial it was, unlike Treasure Island, a huge success. Kidnapped was serialised in the magazine from May to July 1886.

Editors

Other editors were Clinton Leighton and Richard Quittenton who wrote under the pseudonym Roland Quiz and worked on the magazine for 42 years.

Artists

John Proctor was a regular contributor in the 1870s.