Dime novel

Posted by ESC on October 23, 2002

In Reply to: Dime novel posted by jim on October 22, 2002

: How did the term "Dime novel" originate? thanks much

DIME NOVEL - "a cheap, sensational novel, 1864 (Erastis F. and Irwin P. Beadle began publishing the Dime Book Series in 1860 with Ann S. Stephen's novel 'Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter,' which thus became the first dime novel.)" From Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982).

And what were "penny dreadfuls"? Were they also sensational publications? I'm think that's a British term.

• Penny Dreadfuls TheFallen 10/23/02
  • Penny Dreadfuls James Briggs 10/23/02