A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1883 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1883

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324

1883 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, Vol. XIII, No. 324 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This issue of a pulp magazine (October 9, 1883, No. 324, five cents) features the opening installment of "Ralph Ready, the Hotel Boy Detective; or, Tracking the Foxes to Earth" by Charles Morris. Ralph, an eighteen-year-old aide to the hotel clerk at the Grand Central Hotel, observes three suspicious arrivals: Judge Bluebottle of Duluth, whom the clerk suspects is a Western thief sought by police for an Illinois robbery; a young couple, Roger Sherman and lady, whom Ralph identifies as runaways; and John H. Benson of Chicago, whom Ralph deduces is the couple's pursuing parent. When Ralph encounters the young Mrs. Sherman in a corridor, she appeals for his assistance navigating the hotel, and he reveals his suspicions about their elopement, which she denies. The story establishes multiple mysteries for Ralph to investigate.

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