The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1895-03-21
THE DIME NOVEL.
The Father of Cheap Literature
is Dead.
HOW THE IDEA OCCURRED TO HIM
An Entertaining Story of His Venture In
Publishing Cheap Novels. as
Told by Himself.

other day IN New DIRK, who was In his
prime revolutionist in the literary
field. refer to the publisher, Erastus
F. Beadle, the father of the cheap
novel. Those of us whose memory
reaches back to the times before the
civil war will recall the fact that the
twenty-five and tifty-cent novel was
the rule in those days; and the cost of
paper and printers ink, which went up
with everything else, soon accustomed
the novel-reader to the idea of paying
even dollar or more for this treat. /
But through all the "Beadle dime
salmon covered duodecimo, rarely illus
trated inside, but often with startling
picture, underneath the title. In an
informal chat with a visitor about ten
years ago, Mr.. Beadle told most enter
tainingly the story of his venture in
publishing. The idea of the dime
novel occurred to him, he said, in 1859,
and he began to act upon it in 1860.
1.-THE state of the book market
then," he went on, twas peculiar.
Everyone was publishing books with
thick paper and wide margins-trying
to see how little they could give their
readers for a dollar or a dollar and a
half. Publishers exchanged books, and
took back such as were not sold. Well,
l took the other tack, and thought I
would see how much l could give for
ten cents-cash sales, no credit. Every
} one said the project would fail, but
it didn't. We first published dime
song books cook books etiquette
, books, etc, which we bound in sal
moncolored cover. No 'yellow.cov-
cred dimes were ever sent out by me,
the color was salmon. The yellow
) covered ones were limitations, and were
bad lot Well, after while l started
the dime novel. Mrs. Ann S. Stephens
was the author of the first one-'Ma-
deska'-a prize story, published forty
S years ago in the Ladies' Companion.
1 paid her $3.50 for the right to reprint
9 the story. We sold ten thousand copies
right off, and then twenty thousand. "
: Mr.. Beadle had an editor in his en-
o ploy named Victor, who used to pass
= upon manuscripts, order special work
S and the like, Just as the editor of lit
d erary weekly or monthly would do it.
r He was as interested as his chief in re
It calling their joint undertaking. 1.-THE
}. authors who wrote for u.s." said he
e ''were notable persons in their way
& We had for instance, one book by {
z man who was once member OF thu
lie Ohio Legislature; another by an eX
ID Governor Of the same State. He neve
a wrote us bad line. Edward S. Eli
st you know him?-wrote us our mos
y popular novel. He was Methodist
at and he went to his minister to know
is whether he could write dime novel
He was school. teacher in Trenton
j. and was not yet twenty-one when h
4 wrote his first dime, for which he go
Id eightytve dollars. That was Set
=. JONES'
as Eyes, I remember" broke in MI
is Beadle, unable to restrain his enthus
re iasm, 1--WE plastered the country wit
" Who IS Seth Jones?' and when the e2
be element ran high we answered tn
a question with that picture you see o
is that cover: I'm Seth Jones' We sol
ok sixty thousand copies of that stor
is right off,"
lst "These novels" Mr. Victor contir
as ued, introduced either historical {
lis local characters. They followed rigf
TO after 'Cooper's Tales, which suggeste
them. Mrs. A. M. Dennison wrot
ne historic fiction; Judge Jared Hall {
Ohio rTha Glouo
ne story of Mexico in Montezuma's time
IN good names. Then there was Clal
au Augusta she was Maine lady, and
Ies clever writer. Ellis wrote exclusivel
ITO for us, and we have paid him as hig
ne as $3.50 for novel of forty thousar
icy words. Why, we paid better, in pr
me portion to the quantity of matter v
icy accepted, than the Atlantic Monthly
Our stories We're very popular, al
our yellow. covered rivals--bad books
began to spring up. What did we {
ng then? Oh, we had to kill few mo
1at Indians than we used to, but we he
ted our own against them. Ours we
i'll stories of exciting adventure onl
o. there was nothing bad about them. S
cry this article in the North Americi
sc, Review for July, 1864, wherein tn
the are described and criticised They a
OF pronounced exceptionally moral al
lue they do not even obscurely pander
he vice or excite passions The social
pit cheap libraries have sent these Of
ure style dime novels into the backgroun
day though we keep stock of the best OIL
to on hand still.
the "You ask about Mayne Reid? '
ces- have large list of his works.
and would have sunk into obscurity if '
old hadn't sustained him. He has writ
He certainly fifty stories and sketches
ord US. He was working for us exclusive
49,. for eight or nine years We made
ltes double number of his Scalp Hunter
llue one of his most popular stories. ,,repril
'eth ing it at his request He retained,
and course, the English rights in his worl
en- We never paid him less than six hr
! be dred dollars for "a story; that was [
nall standard price, though wo may ha
paid him more at times. l rememl
he brought his White Squaw' do,
heir here one morning and said he IN,
the have seven hundred dollars for il, a