The 1890s: The solo years

Nelson Lee's Debut: A Dead Man’s Secret

Nelson Lee made his debut in A Dead Man’s Secret in The Halfpenny Marvel #46, on 19 September 1894.^[2] The world would meet him at the open of Chapter 2:

Nelson Lee, the famous detective, sat in his room in Gray’s Inn Road, dealing with his morning’s correspondence. So great was the demand for his advice and help that nine-tenths of his replies were to the effect that “Mr. Lee regrets that, owing to the number of cases he already has on hand, he is unable to deal with Mr. So-and-so’s case.” He had already replied in this strain to an earl whose family jewels had been stolen, a banker whose clerk had absconded, and a well-known member of the Jockey Club whose favourite race-horse had been poisoned, when he was interrupted by the entrance of his landlady, who handed him a card...

The Jewel Thief

Lee was an immediate success and made his second appearance in Nelson Lee, Detective six issues later. He made his third appearance in The Adventures of Nelson Lee, in Union Jack Library #35, in December 1894 then made a final appearance in The Halfpenny Marvel in The Jewel Thief in issue #74. From May 1895 he began appearing in Pluck featuring in 18 tales over the next three years. That summer he also appeared in The Mystery of the Malton Moors published in the Comic Home Journal. In the 1895 Christmas issue of Pluck he starred alongside detectives Sexton Blake and Gideon Barr. The tale, Christmas Clues, established Lee and Blake as friends. The two would team up repeatedly over the next 40 years. During this period Lee worked alone for the most part, accepting cases from his office on Gray’s Inn Road.^[4] Tales from this era include:^[5]

The 1900s: The Great Serials

The Silver Dwarf

Towards the end of the 19th century Staniforth had a falling out with his editor and switched to publishing in other story papers. The era of the great Nelson Lee serials began with Birds of Prey a 20-part serial that ran in The Boys' Friend from July 27 to December 7, 1901.^[6] It was followed by The Silver Dwarf (Dec 7th 1901 to March 15, 1902) and The Missing Heir (March 29-August 9, 1902). Staniforth listed these as his favourite Nelson Lee tales.^[7]

Some of the popular Nelson Lee serials from this era include:^[8]

The boy-detective: The creation of a new sub-genre

Nelson Lee's Pupil

In 1903 Nelson Lee's life changed forever. In Nelson Lee's Pupil he acquired an assistant: Richard Hamilton, better known as "Nipper". Nipper was a street urchin who made his first appearance in A Dead Man’s Secret ten years earlier.^[6] This retelling of their encounter ran from issues #2-26 in Boys' Herald and was subsequently republished in The Boys' Friend Library in 1907. The two would be inseparable for the next 30 years.

Following in Lee's footsteps, Sexton Blake was given a boy assistant, Tinker, the following year, in Cunning against Skill, a tale penned by William Murray Graydon in 1904. Tinker and Nipper were influential in the subsequent creation of boy-detectives in the British story papers with subsequent authors following the pattern that they established: "uncultured but extraordinarily sharp street urchins, rescued from poverty and obscurity by a famous London private detective."^[3]

A few of Nipper's more prominent cases include:^[9]

The Boys' Friend Library

Many of Scott's Nelson Lee serials were abridged and republished as complete tales in the Boys' Friend Friend Library.

Written by Maxwell Scott

Written by Edwy Searles Brooks

The Nelson Lee Library: 1915–1933

Nelson Lee Library #1

Lee featured in his own long-running magazine, The Nelson Lee Library, from 1915 to 1933 which was published in four "series". The first issue of The Nelson Lee Library was published on 12 June 1915, entitled "The Mystery of Limehouse Reach" and written by Sexton Blake writer A. C. Murray. Many other popular Blake writers would pen Lee tales including William Murray Graydon, William J. Bayfield, George Hamilton Teed, Norman Goddard, and Edwy Searles Brooks.

Series 1 ran from 12 June 1915 until 24 April 1926, a total of 568 issues.

Series 2 ran from 1 May 1926 until 18 January 1930, a total of 194 issues.

Series 3 ran from 25 January 1930 until 18 February 1933, a total of 161 issues.

Series 4 ran from 25 February 1933 until 12 August 1933. The Nelson Lee Library then merged with the Gem.

A few issues of note: Maxwell Scott wrote just four adventures for the paper that bore his greatest creation's name, A Miscarriage of Justice (1915), The Convict's Dilemma (1915), In Borrowed Plumes (1915), and When Rogues Fall Out (1916). The Spendthrift was George Hamilton Teed's first Nelson Lee tale. It was followed by Twenty Fathoms Deep Edwy Searles Brooks debut Lee tale. Teed following on the wild success of his Sexton Blake creation Yvonne Cartier, gave Nelson Lee his first female foe: The Black Wolf, a cross-dressing martial arts aristocrat. She would match wits with Lee and Nipper in various locations around the world.^[10] Not to be outdone, Brooks introduced Eileen Dare the female detective in Nelson Lee's Lady Assistant (1916).^[11] She appeared with Lee in 14 adventures. Brooks was instrumental in launching the second phase of Lee's career. In "Nipper at St. Frank's," (Nelson Lee Library #112, 28 July 1917,) Lee and Nipper while fleeing from a Chinese Triad hide out at St. Frank's, a "venerable public school" in the Bellton area of Sussex. When the case at last was solved, Lee joined the faculty as headmaster and Nipper enrolled as a student. The two remained there for the next sixteen years solving mysteries and having adventures around the world, often with friends and Nipper's classmates.^[3]

Series 1: The Pre-St. Frank's Cases

Each issue contained a complete detective story.

Other Nelson Lee tales in the Nelson Lee Library

The Union Jack: 1916-1920

In all these tales, Nelson Lee and Nipper team up with Sexton Blake and Tinker.^[12]

The Sexton Blake Library: 1915-1921

A short story.

In these two tales, Nelson Lee and Nipper team up with Sexton Blake and Tinker.

The Pluck Library: 1916

The editor introduced the Neslon Lee tale with this announcement: "Following on numerous requests from readers of The Nelson Lee Library for stories of Nelson Lee in other publications, I have pleasure in presenting this week, in Pluck, No. 1 of what I hope will prove the finest series of detective storties ever published featuring Nelson Lee.

The Detective Library: 1919-1921

The stories were predominantly written by Scott and Edwy Searles Brooks.^[13]

The Prairie Library: 1920

The stories were written by George Hamilton Teed.^[14]

The Nuggett Library: 1921

These tales were predominantly written by Andrew Murray. Many of these feature Sexton Blake foes and may be rewrites of Blake tales.^[15]

Howard Baker collections

• The Barring-Out at St. Frank's! by Edwy Searles Brooks
• Expelled Incorporating The Secret Societies of St. Frank's & The 'Death' of Walter Church by Edwy Searles Brooks
• The Haunted School Incorporating the entire Ezra Quirke series by Edwy Searles Brooks

New collections

• Sexton Blake: The Early Years (2020) features the first 5 Nelson Lee cases by Maxwell Scott, includes Christmas Clues the first Nelson Lee/Sexton Blake co-appearance.
• Sexton Blake: Friends and Allies (2020) features In Double Harness by Robert Murray Graydon
• Sexton Blake & Nelson Lee (2021) by Edwy Searles Brooks
• Sexton Blake: The Claire Delisle Files (2022) features The Valley of Fear by Francis Addington Symonds
• Nelson Lee: The Black Wolf Files (2020) by George Hamilton Teed
• Nelson Lee: The Scott Files (2021) by Maxwell Scott. Includes Birds of Prey, The Silver Dwarf, and The Missing Heir.