The Young Wizard has the distinction of being the only major work by Professor Hoffmann which appeared only in serial form. The work appeared first in The Boy’s Own Paper, during 1885 and 1886, and later in The Boy’s Own Annual for 1885-1886. The Young Wizard appeared in 29 different issues of The Boy’s Own Paper, but in numbering the the installments, two numbers were used twice, giving the illusion of a 27-part series, and creating a potential for confusion.
In the October, 1965 issue of The Magic Cauldron, Stanley Collins makes reference to The Young Wizard as having appeared in a periodical titled. Golden Days, published in Philadelphia, in 1885 and 1886.. I cannot say for certain that this was the same version as that which appeared in The Boy’s Own Paper. Three other Hoffmann items are also worth mentioning in connection with the present reprint of The Young Wizard. The first item, and one directly related to the present work, is “Hints to Young Wizards,” an Americanized and abridged version of The Young Wizard which appeared in Young Folks Paper. In my collection is only one installment, with no date given. However, I would guess that it appeared shortly after the English version.
Another interesting work is a series of articles bearing the title “The Young Wizard,” which was published in,Boston in The Youth’s Companion for December 30, 1886 and January 13, 1887. The first of these articles bore the words “In Three Papers,” but I have not seen a third part. (See “On ‘The Young Wizard,'” in The Hoffmann Collector, November, 1977.) The articles bear little, if any, resemblance to the present work.
