The second series of Beadle books portraying pioneer conditions and
events was called the “Pocket Novels,” which began to appear about 1869
or 1870. These were of the same 12mo size as their predecessors, but
the previous uniformity of coloring was abandoned for a more brilliant
appearance and each cover was given a multi-colored illustration on
a solid background of red, green, blue or brown. Some sixty-four
titles of this series are displayed, and almost without exception
they deal with historical pioneer conditions, events and personages.
Among these books the visitor will find “Mad Anthony’s Scouts,” by
Rodman; Whittaker’s “Boone the Hunter” and “Dick Darling” (the pony
expressman); “Billy Bowlegs”; and “The Sons of Liberty” and “Mohawk
Nat,” by the historian Charles Dunning Clark, who wrote for Beadle
under the pen name of W. J. Hamilton. Clark wrote no less than
seventeen of the “Pocket Novels” books, nearly all of them dealing
with the periods and circumstances of the French-Indian wars in New
York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, or with the scenes of the Revolution,
phases of national history upon which Clark was a specialist. Many of
the “Pocket” series also dealt with the settlement of the Ohio and
Mississippi Valleys from 1780 to 1815, and with the Far West from 1849
to 1869. This “Pocket” series is bibliographically known as Type B of
the Beadle publications, while the original yellow-backed books belong
to Type A.
The next two groups--Types D and E--have a common title, the “Boy’s
Library of Sport, Story and Adventure,” and are distinguished from one
another by the larger size and earlier issuance of the Type D items.
They are imperial octavo in size, whereas the Type E publications
are ordinary octavos. Both are uncolored, and have their title-pages
entirely occupied with bold black-and-white illustrations. The Type
D books are somewhat different in various qualities from their
predecessors, and were obviously designed to create an interest
in foreign countries, peoples and customs as well as in American
adventure. A typical item of this class is Harbaugh’s “Snow Shoe
Tom, or New York Boys in the Wilderness,” wherein the veteran author
(who is still living in Ohio) instructs his readers regarding camp
and wilderness life in Maine, in moose-hunting, fishing, trapping,
the making of snow-shoes, and self-reliance in the woods. The Type E
books are concerned almost wholly with life in the Far West, and with
the lives and adventures of celebrated plainsmen. Among these titles
are Aiken’s story of the exploits of “Kit Carson”; Joseph Badger’s
Autobiography (written under the pen name of Post); and Ingraham’s
biography of the celebrated scout called Texas Jack, whose real name
was J. B. Omohundro.
A series of little 12mo paper books having about 100 pages each,
with colored illustrations on orange-red covers, come next in the
exhibition. These are of the “New Dime Novels” series, known in
bibliographical realms as Type F. There are no less than 114 of them,
all in remarkable condition considering that some were copyrighted as
early as 1866, and none are less than forty years old. These books,
like the original dime publications and the Pocket series, are devoted
to the early Indian wars, to various pioneer conditions and events, to
the settlement of the Mississippi Valley and to the Far West. Among
the titles displayed in this section are “Eph Peters, the Scout of
the Mohawk Valley,” by Clark; “Indian Jim,” a story of the Minnesota
Massacres of 1862, by Ellis; “Wingenund,” by Murray; “The Grizzly
Hunters,” by Captain Whittaker; a Sioux narrative under the title
of “Old Zip,” by Bruin Adams; John Neal’s description of the Maine
“Moosehunter”; and Whittaker’s story of “The Death’s Head Rangers” of
Texas.
Next among the various varieties of publications are the “American
Tales.” These (the Type G books) have become particularly rare, and are
represented by but five examples. They are octavos with brown pictorial
covers. One of these, entitled “The Blue Brotherhood, or the Young
Patroon’s Inheritance,” deals with the events of the Mohawk Valley
during the Revolution, and with the manor house of Abram Van Kempen,
which was then known as “Van Kempen’s Castle.”
Most spectacular and attractive of all, in their outward appearance,
are the books of the Type H series. These are likewise octavos,
published in 1870 and the years immediately following, and they have
dramatically drawn covers published in colors. For a long time it was
not known by modern bibliographers that these tales were published by
Beadle, since, almost without exception, they bear an imprint reading
“Frank Starr and Company, Publishers, 41 Platt Street.” Investigation,
however, at length disclosed that Frank Starr was a foreman in Beadle’s
employ, and that 41 Platt Street was a rear entrance to the Beadle
establishment. And finally a copy of “The Texan Spy” of this series
was discovered, with the Beadle imprint on the title-page, and also a
Beadle copyright, although the “Frank Starr” attribution appears on
the front cover. The title-page of “The Texan Spy,” which ultimately
settled the problem, is shown in the exhibition. Although this series
is among the most rare, no less than thirty-nine examples are in the
collection. They embrace historical tales dealing with Kit Carson,
the Gulf Pirates, the Black Hawk War, Pioneer Life in Texas, the New
York Wilderness, the Seminole War, Early California, the Trappers of
the West, the Civil War, Early Ohio, Marion’s Rangers, the Settlement
of the Susquehanna Region, and many other equally absorbing phases of
American pioneer conditions.
Following comes an assemblage of very different outward aspect. These
are 105 specimens of the “Pocket Library,” which are collectively known
as Type J. They are uniform, small octavo pamphlets of thirty-two
pages each, with the front covers occupied by illustrations in
black-and-white. The very first issue of this series is shown. It is
Edward Wheeler’s story of “Deadwood Dick, the Prince of the Road.”
Among the more important items in this division of the collection are
Omohundro’s story of the Scout New Wylde, Captain J. F. C. Adams’
“Oregon Sol,” the same famous pioneer’s tale of “Nick Whiffle’s Pet,”
Mayne Reid’s “The Yellow Chief,” Prentiss Ingraham’s “Buffalo Bill’s
Bet,” and Ingraham’s “Pony Express Rider.” The dominant motif of this
series is far western adventure, but there are also numerous stories
portraying life in New York City.
The succeeding group (belonging to Type K) reveals another striking
reversal of form and outward appearance. These are fat little 12mo
books of about 200 pages each, with colored illustrated covers. But
much of the coloring used in decorating the covers in this series,
was not done by the printing press. It was performed by paint brush
and human hand, on each separate volume, as part of the original
publication process. As a result of this innovation, and also of
course due in part to the increased size of the books, these volumes
were sold at 20 cents each. Their publication began in 1871, and but
few titles appeared. They are now exceedingly rare, although fifteen
of the thirty-one known items of the series are shown by the Library,
including No. 1. It is Albert Aitken’s story of “Overland Kit.” No. 11
is “Idaho Tom,” by Oll Coomes; No. 17 is Mrs. Victor’s “Turkey Dan”;
No. 27 is Buffalo Bill’s “Deadly Eye,” and No. 29 is Badger’s “Old
Bull’s Eye.” All are attractive and well-made little volumes. “Deadly
Eye” is embellished by a cover portrait of Cody, done in colors.
Following the Type K books in the exhibition come 317 issues of the
“Beadle’s Half-Dime Library.” Somewhat more than one thousand titles
appeared in this series, and the Library’s collection, therefore,
contains nearly one-third of the titles published in this form. As
their collective name indicates they were sold for five cents, and were
the most ephemeral of all the Beadle imprints. Millions of them came
from the press, but, owing to their cheapness, form, and popularity,
virtually none were saved.
These tales are sixteen-page pamphlets of royal octavo size, with
the front page almost always filled by a strongly-drawn and dramatic
illustration portraying some vital incident of the narrative. Although
the series, as a whole, is mainly devoted to far western life and
conditions, it also contains numerous stories dealing with New York
City. Among these the exhibition shows copies of “Broadway Billy’s
Boodle” (No. 514); “Broadway Billy in Clover” (No. 678); and “Bicycle
Bob’s Hot Scorch, a Story of the Schoharie County Hayseed in New York”
(No. 989); all by Cowdrick; “Bowery Ben in Chinatown” (No. 892), by
Harold Payne; and “Buck Bumblebee, the Harlem Hummer” (No. 623); and
“The Big Four of the Bowery” (No. 837), both by Joseph Pierce.
The far western tales and biographies in this series are particularly
interesting. Among the biographical issues are “Buffalo Billy, the Boy
Bull-whacker” (No. 191), by Captain Taylor; “Buffalo Bill’s Bet” (No.
194), by Taylor; “Bison Bill” (No. 216), by Ingraham; “California Joe’s
First Trail” (No. 376), by Col. Monstery; “California Joe’s War Trail”
(No. 395), by Captain Whittaker; Ingraham’s narrative of Joe Bruce, the
Texas Ranger, under the title of “Arizona Joe” (No. 495); and the same
author’s story of William L. Taylor of Texas, under the title of “Buck
Taylor, King of the Cowboys” (No. 497). The illustrations borne by all
the titles of this series will be found to possess unusual interest,
but some of the drawings have an especial fascination. Notable in such
regard are “Giant George” (No. 246); “Sierra Sam’s Pard” (No. 253);
“The Scalp King” (No. 288); and “Ker-Whoop, Ker-Whoo” (No. 318).
The largest group of all, in the Library exhibit, is that representing
the Type M publications of Beadle. These were collectively known as the
Dime Library, of which each issue was an imperial octavo of thirty-two
pages, with an illustration on the front cover. Nearly one thousand
titles were issued in this series, of which the Library possesses
and shows 356, or considerably more than one-third of all that were
published. Probably a majority of the Dime Library tales portray
the conditions and famous characters of the Far West, and among the
pioneer phases of western life with which its titles deal are overland
emigration, fur trapping, lumber-camp life, gold hunting, the Texas
War, the exploits of the Texas Rangers, the stage coach era, cattle
rustling, ranch life, vigilante rule, the depredations of road-agents,
Indian fighting, and conditions in all the new states and territories.
Many of these Dime Library pamphlets are also biographical. The
narratives of this type dealing with celebrated western characters
embrace “Kit Carson, Jr., the Crack Shot of the West” (No. 3), by Major
Hall; “Joaquin, the Saddle King” (No. 154), by Badger; “Wild Bill” (No.
154), by Ingraham; “Big Foot Wallace” (No. 204), by Major Hall; and
“The Lasso King’s League” (No. 653), and “The Cowboy Clan” (No. 658),
by Ingraham. The last two named deal with Buck Taylor of Texas. Several
of this series were written by Cody, and still others relate to him.
Among these are “Buffalo Bill’s Secret Trail” (No. 682), by Major Burr;
and “Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard” (No. 727), by Ingraham.
Included also in this department of the collection are a number of
Aiken’s stories of New York City life. Some of these titles are “The
Wolves of New York” (No. 161); “The Phantom Hand, or the Heiress of
Fifth Avenue” (No. 72); and “The Wall Street Blood, or, Tick, Tick, the
Telegraph Girl.”
[Illustration: TYPE J]
[Illustration: TYPE L]
Following the imposing array just described there come, in the
exhibition, representatives of seven exceedingly rare groups of Beadle
publications. Of “Beadle’s Dime Fiction Library,” published in 1864 and
1865, only five examples are present. The “Library of Choice Fiction,”
also published in 1864, is represented only by “The Maiden Martyr,”
which deals with the New England witchcraft horror. “Beadle’s 15 cent
Novels” series, which appeared in 1861, has a New York history specimen
in the shape of “The Maid of Esopus, or, The Trials and Triumphs of
the Revolution.” The “American Novels” series contains nine titles. It
appeared from 1865 to 1867, and the little books bear the imprint of
Irwin P. Beadle, who was a brother of Erastus. No. 7 of this type is
“Fort Stanwix; a Tale of the Mohawk in 1777,” by Hamilton Myers. Next
in succession are “Frank Starr’s American Novels,” of which there are
but four, published from 1870 to 1872, and they, in turn, are followed
by four specimens of the “Frank Starr’s Fifteen Cent Illustrated
Novels,” which appeared in 1870 and 1871.
Last of all, in this group of rarities, are six copies of the “Boys’
Books of Romance and Adventure.” These, which are perhaps the most
uncommon and important of the Beadle issues, are attractive octavos,
on colored covers. No. 1 of the series (which the Library shows), is
Robinson Crusoe, but all the others deal with famous personages and
events in American history. Some of the books contain several such
narratives, among them being stories of Marion and his men, of Daniel
Morgan, of Tecumseh, Moody, Simon Girty, and other historic characters
of pioneer times. This series of publications was edited by Edward S.
Ellis, and, like several other groups with which it is associated in
the exhibition, has hitherto escaped the knowledge of bibliographers.
Once more there is a striking change in the bewildering display
arranged in the exhibition. The small and colorful exhibits just
described are succeeded by a large illustrated series printed in black
and entitled “New and Old Friends.” These well-made royal octavo
pamphlets of thirty-two pages appeared in 1873, and of the fifteen
known titles the Library possesses and shows no less than fourteen,
only No. 2 of the file being absent. All relate to American pioneer
life. This series was enlarged to folio size after the fifteenth issue,
and two examples in the larger form are in the exhibit. One of them is
“Oonomoo, the Huron,” by Ellis. Of this tale Senator Zachariah Chandler
once said: “The man who does not enjoy ‘Oonomoo the Huron’ has no right
to live.”
“The New York Library,” issued under the Frank Starr imprint for a
short time in 1877 is next represented by No. 19, which is “Red Cedar,
the Prairie Outlaw,” and it is followed by nine copies of “Beadle’s
Popular Library,” an imperial octavo series devoted to western
and detective exploits. These bring to an end the historical and
semi-historical tales published under various imprints by the house of
Beadle.
There still remain, however, two other important phases of its
activity which demand attention, and which, in point of chronology,
even ante-dated the different types of books and pamphlets already
described. When Erastus Beadle removed from Buffalo to New York,
in 1858, his first ventures were a number of little hand-books on
various subjects, and song books. These appeared from 1858 to 1860,
and numerous specimens of them are contained in the Library’s exhibit.
These were 12mo or 16mo in size, and were presented in attractive
colored covers, sometimes with illustrations. Most important and
historically valuable of these publications were the Beadle Baseball
Guides, that began to appear in 1859 or 1860 and were continued for
about twenty years. They were the first continuous series of baseball
guides in the world, and contain a huge mass of information relating
to the national game that is nowhere else to be found. In that respect
they are invaluable, and no history of baseball can be written without
constant recourse to them.
Other volumes of like character in the exhibition are the “Joke
Books”; the “Year Book and Almanac”; the “Ladies Letter Writer”;
the “Housewife’s Manual”; the “Book of Verse”; the “Debater”; the
“Elocutionist,” and the three issues of the “Book of Fun.” The “Book of
Fun No. 3” is notable because of the fact that it is the first edition,
in book form, of Mark Twain’s story of the Jumping Frog, which is
contained on pages 29 to 32. This volume appeared in 1866, preceding by
a year the appearance of the pamphlet commonly accepted as the first
edition of the tale.
Of similar size and make-up are the series of “Dime Dialogues” and
“Dime Speakers,” which are also shown. The Dialogue series contained
at least forty-one issues, and the speaker series is known to have
embraced twenty-five books. Numerous copies of each are shown, the
Speaker No. 1 being dated 1861.
Erastus Beadle was himself a great lover of out-door sports and
out-door life (due, no doubt, to his immediate pioneer ancestry), and
in addition to the baseball guides he published many other similar
hand-books. The Library exhibition contains copies of the Beadle “Book
of Cricket,” of “Football,” of “Croquet,” of “Skating,” of “Curling,”
of “Pedestrianism,” and of “Riding and Driving.” All these appeared in
the ’60’s.
With the outbreak of the Civil War the publisher began the issuance of
little volumes designed to inform the Northern public regarding its
military leaders, and this phase of Beadle activity continued until
1865. Among books of this sort shown in the exhibition are biographies
of the principal Union Generals, the “Report of General Grant,” and the
“Story of the Grand March” made by Sherman. All were published at ten
cents, and each contains about 100 pages of text.
Most important of all the Beadle series, from the historical
standpoint, is that known as Type C and entitled “Lives of Great
Americans.” It appeared monthly, in the 70’s, for about a year, and
contained thirteen different titles. All these are rare, yet the
Library file, as shown, contains no less than eleven of them and
embraces the lives of Washington, Paul Jones, Anthony Wayne, Ethan
Allen, Lafayette, Israel Putnam, Crockett, Tecumseh, Lincoln, Pontiac
and Grant. Those lacking are the lives of Boone and Kit Carson. This
series is attractively bound in colored illustrated covers, much of the
coloring having been done by brush. There was also issued a Life of
General McClellan, and a memorial edition of the Life of Grant, issued
after his death. Both of these are shown.
The other manifestation of Beadle’s early activities after his removal
to New York was his issuance of popular song books. One of the first of
these was the “Dime School Melodist” of 1859. The Library copy (a later
edition) is dated 1860.
Following it came three distinct series of song literature. The
first was a collection called the “Dime Song Book,” which began in
1859 and embraced some twenty or more separate numbers that came out
periodically. The earliest shown by the Library is Number 3, dated
1859. They were 12mos in salmon colored covers, and each number
contained sixty or seventy of the popular ballads of that time.
The second series of songsters was named the “One Cent Song Book,”
of which nine different numbers are known to exist, and of which the
Library shows eight (lacking only No. 6). As its name indicates, it
was sold for a cent, and was a 16mo eight-page pamphlet. All numbers
are extremely rare. It was published in 1868. Previously, in 1861, the
“Dime Union Song Book” in two numbers had been brought out, containing
the war songs of the North.
The third and last songster series was a pretentious royal octavo in
size, and named “Beadle’s Singers’ Library.” Beginning in 1878, it
continued weekly into 1879, and 43 separate numbers are known. Of these
the Library possesses an almost complete file, lacking only numbers
3 and 20, with nearly all the numbers in first edition. The first
editions of these items had large colored vignette illustrations on
the front page, with much of the coloring done by hand. Each number
contained fifty or more songs of the day, the entire series, therefore,
embracing more than two thousand of the songs most popular with the
Americans of 43 years ago.
For that reason it is also a historically invaluable collection,
since the song literature it contains discloses, in striking manner,
the prevailing thoughts and manners of society. Many of the songs
themselves, both in title and text, reveal the prevalence of an
artificial sentimentality, a tolerance of crime and vulgarity, a
worship of alcohol, and a laxity of morals decidedly in contrast with
ideas now prevailing. A column might be filled with the peculiar
titles to these interesting ditties. Among them are “The Crackman’s
Chant,” “Pull Down the Blind,” “Battle of the Kegs,” “Since Terry First
Joined the Gang,” “Grease the Griddle, Birdie, Darling,” “When Brown
Comes Rolling Home,” “She Was Clerk in a Candy Store,” “Billiards and
Pool,” “See that my Nose is kept Red,” “The Way my Daddy Went,” “I’m
Dancing Mad,” “The Old Whisky Jug,” “Go It While You’re Young,” “The
Rat Catcher’s Daughter,” “On Coney Island Beach,” “She Wept her Life
Away,” “Charge the Can Cheerily,” “Bright, Bright Wine,” “I Fancy I’ve
seen you Before,” “Charley the Masher,” “Please Father don’t Drink Any
More,” “Come Home Mother,” and “Dear Father, Come Down with the Stamps.”
Although the preceding outline of Beadle activities sufficiently
suggests that his career was not confined to the publishing of
adventure tales, according to the general impression, there still
remain to be noticed the items which terminate the distinctively Beadle
phase of the Library’s exhibition. They are four in number, of which
three are newspapers and one is a pretentious monthly magazine. The
magazine in question is “The Home Monthly,” four volumes of which
appeared in Buffalo during the years 1856-1860, before Beadle came to
New York City. It ranked among the best periodicals of the country. The
Library shows it in completeness.
The newspapers were all published in New York City. “Belles and Beaux”
was a home weekly issued during 1874. It is represented by Number 3 of
Volume I. Only a few scattered numbers are known. “Girls of Today,”
which came out in 1875/6, is shown in a complete volume. The “Young New
Yorker,” which was issued in 1878/9, is also on view in the shape of a
complete volume. It was an excellent illustrated journal intended to
foster a love of nature and out-of-door life, and completes the cycle
of Beadle literature, which, for extent and variety, has scarcely been
approached by any other American publisher.
The remainder of the collection (not exhibited) consists of numerous
series of adventure tales and other dime novels, nearly all of which
were inspired by, and followed, in the wake of the Beadle imprints.
First in this section come thirty-two of the tales published by DeWitt
in imitation of the original salmon-colored Beadle books. Robert DeWitt
began their publication in New York in 1867, closely following the
outward appearance of the Beadle books, and they continued to appear,
to the number of more than 118, during the following ten years. To some
degree, also, the DeWitt volumes dealt with the same pioneer subjects
and conditions, although they were frankly fiction, and not nearly so
well written as the Beadle books.
Another imitator of Beadle had appeared in Boston in 1864 or 1865, in
the shape of the publishing firm of Elliott, Thomes and Talbot, which
then began the issuance of a series of little blue bound books of
adventure. Some thirteen of this series are known. They are excellently
made volumes, well printed, of about 120 pages each, and were sold for
ten cents. They, however, were not wholly confined to American life in
their subject matter, but included stories dealing with other lands.
Still a third imitator of Beadle was Sinclair Tousey of New York, who,
in 1864, began publishing a series called “American Tales.” These were
octavos in colored illustrated covers, and were sold for 15 cents. They
(doubtless due to the date of their appearance) relate to the Civil War
and its events.
Following are fifty-six numbers of the most famous of the later
generation of American dime novels. These are the “Old Cap Collier
Stories,” first published by the house of Munro in 1883. George Munro,
the originator of the house, was at first a bookkeeper for Erastus
Beadle, but in 1866 Munro left the Beadle establishment, and, in
conjunction with Irwin Beadle, set up a competing enterprise and began
the issuance of Munro’s Ten Cent Novels. They likewise covered the same
historic ground, were put out in the same general form, and acquired
great popularity. Later, however, the Munro books underwent a radical
change, and the “Old Cap Collier” stories took the place of the more
solid historical material. The first of the Cap Collier series dealt
with the Savin Rock Mystery of New Haven, and the ensuing numbers of
the series did not bear any numerical designation until several had
appeared. It continued as a semi-weekly issue for several years, as an
octavo, and later became an imperial octavo. A copy in the large size,
as it appeared 31 years ago, is also included. This title is “The Death
of Sitting Bull, or, General Custer Avenged,” and is number 391 of the
entire Munro output.
Other series of similar later publications are the “Old Sleuth
Library,” the “Wide Awake Library,” the “War Library,” the “Five Cent
Weekly Library,” the “Comic Library,” the “Army and Navy Library,” the
“Nickel Library,” the “Log Cabin Library,” and the “Camp Fire Library.”
All these are degenerate and feeble imitations of the earlier Beadle
publications, but necessary in any comprehensive collection of this
most unusual and significant phase of American literature. The final
group, by contrast, contains several copies of “The Novelette,” first
issued in Boston by Ballou in 1857, and which is believed to have
suggested to Erastus Beadle--in part at least--his great enterprise.
The “Novelette” titles are pretentious and well-printed tales relating
to American history.