| W. O. G. Lofts | |
| Birth Date: | 2 September 1923 |
| Birth Place: | Marylebone, London, England |
| Death Place: | Kensington and Chelsea, London |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Researcher and author |
| Years Active: | 19421994 |
| Known For: | Cataloging British Juvenile Fiction |
| Notable Works: | The Men Behind Boys' Fiction |
William Oliver Guillemont Lofts (2 September 1923 – 27 June 1997) was a British researcher and author.
Lofts was born in Marylebone, London in 1923, and attended Barrow Hill Road Elementary School. At sixteen he was working as an office boy, and still living at home at 146 Ashbridge Street in Marylebone.[1] During the Second World War, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery on 6 August 1942 and served in India and Myanmar for almost all of his service.[2] It was during his military service that he first became avidly interested in juvenile fiction, after coming across a "Sexton Blake" paperback in a deserted hut in 1944.[3]
From the 1960s to the 1980s he worked for the legal department of IPC Magazines, mostly researching issues related to copyright. He was deeply interested in boys' fiction, and spent years researching the topic, collaborating with another researcher Derek John Adley, on many bibliographic works.
Lofts' writings include The Saint and Leslie Charteris (1970) and The World of Frank Richards (1975).
| No ! | Year | Title | Other Author | Pages | Publisher | ISBN | BL | Source, if other than BL | On-line link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1969 | Derek John Adley | 246 | Howard Baker, London | 0093047606 | Internet archive | ||||
| 2 | 1969 | Old Boys Books: A Complete Catalogue | Derek John Adley | 93 | Authors, York | Friardale | ||||
| 3 | 1970 | The Men Behind Boys' Fiction | Derek John Adley | 361 | Howard Baker, London | 0093047703 | Internet archive | |||
| 4 | 1971 | Derek John Adley | 135 | Hutchinson Library Services, London | 0093048009 | |||||
| 5 | 1975 | Derek John Adley | 206 | Howard Baker, London | 0703000683 | Amazon.co.uk | Friardale | |||
| 6 | c. 1978 | The Rupert Index: A Bibliography of Rupert Bear | Derek John Adley | 74 | Norman Shaw, London | |||||
| 7 | c. 1980 | William A Bibliography | Derek John Adley | 51 | Norman Shaw, London | |||||
| 8 | c. 1981 | The Gem Index: A Catalogue of St. Jim's Stories | Derek John Adley | 94 | Authors, South Harrow? | Page count from AbeBooks-Peakirk Books | ||||
| 9 | 1982 | Catalogue of Boys & Girls Annuals | Derek John Adley | 143 | Authors, South Harrow | |||||
| 10 | 1982 | The Hotspur, A Catalogue 1933-1959 | Derek John Adley | 67 | Authors, South Harrow | Abe Books-Burwood Books, Wickham Market | ||||
| 11 | c. 1983 | Greyfriars Since The Magnet : A Bibliography | Derek John Adley | 19 | Authors, South Harrow | Friardale | ||||
| 12 | 1983 | The Thriller | Derek John Adley | 20 | A Cadwallender, Manchester | Abe Books-Burwood Books, Wickham Market | ||||
| 13 | 1986 | Identification Guide To The D. C. Thomson And John Leng Children's Annuals 1921-1964. | Derek John Adley | 38 | Yesterday's Paper, Wellington | Abe Books-Any Amount of Books, London | ||||
| 14 | 1986 | The Concise Magnet Companion '86, Edited by George Beal | George Beal | 97 | ||||||
| 15 | 1987 | The Detective Weekly: A Bibliography | Derek John Adley | 21 | Authors | AbeBooks-Any Amount of Books, London | ||||
| 16 | 1987 | Origins of the Boys Friend Library | Derek John Adley | Howard Baker, London | Amazon.co.uk | |||||
| 17 | 1990 | The Thriller : The Paper with a Thousand Thrills | Derek John Adley | 48 | C.J. Publications/A.B. Whitworth | Abe Books-Any Amount of Books, London | ||||
| 18 | 1991 | The New Rupert Index: Revised and Updated by John Beck | Derek John Adley, John Beck | 117 | John Beck | Abe Books-D2D Books, Berkshire | ||||
| 19 | 1994 | Rookwood | Derek John Adley | 45 | Happy Hours, Leeds | Abe Books-Any Amount of Books, London | Friardale |