Take a Fab trip back in time with The Beatles Book magazines! This is an authentic original Dec 1963 issue #5, the Christmas issue. This item is an original from the "first era" run of 77 issues as described in the history of these magazines at the bottom of this page.

Item Highlights:

• Original The Beatles Book magazine, Dec. 1963 issue #5
• In Very Good condition
  
• Magazine dimensions approx. 5-7/8" x 8-1/4" (15 x 21 cm).
• Over 30 pages loaded with Beatles photos, articles, vintage ads and other fantastic Fab Four content!

History of The Beatles Book: This magazine was founded in 1963 by Sean O'Mahony, who had heard the Beatles hit "Please, Please Me" and asked Beatles manager Brian Epstein if he could create a magazine about the new group. Epstein and the group agreed. O'Mahony edited the fanzine under the pseudonym Johnny Dean and printed 80,000 copies of the first issue. They sold quickly and with that success he put out 77 more editions of The Beatles Book (also sometimes called Beatles Monthly) from 1963 until its final issue in December 1969. 

Leslie Bryce was the magazine’s photographer and he had unparalleled access to the group throughout the 1960s, taking thousands of fantastic photographs of the Beatles exploits around the world. To add to the publication's cache, Beatles then-roadies/staff Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans wrote many of the articles. Artist Bob Gibson contributed cartoons and caricatures for the magazine and he would go on to create cartoons for the Beatles' 1967 Magical Mystery Tour EP-set and US-album booklet.

With continued world interest in the group, O'Mahony decided to resume publication anew in May 1976. He started by republishing all 77 original 1960s issues with 8 added outer pages (later 16) of the latest Beatles news and content. This run was completed in Sept. of 1982.

However, at that point in time a resurgence of interest in the Beatles was underway due to the 20th anniversary of the release of the Fab Four's debut single "Love Me Do". As a result, O'Mahony opted to continue the publication on with all new content and news about the Beatles throughout the 1980s all the way up until 2003 (issue 321) at which time publication ceased due to his retirement. 

Information For Collectors: The Beatles Book magazines have become very collectible and a fan favorite with hugely entertaining and historical photos, articles and content not found anywhere else.

Like most collectibles, the oldest, which in this case is the first era of 77 issues dated from 1963-69, have the most value.

The second era, published from 1976-1982, are the second most valuable, since they were "reissues" of the 77 original 1960s magazine, running from May 1976 through Sept. 1982. They are easily identified by the 60s cover appearing offset on the cover and have the subtitle "Appreciation Society Magazine".

The last era, published from Oct. 1982 through 2003 are the most recent but have the advantage of containing all new content current to the time.