A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1884 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

Home › Exhibition › Pulp Fiction › Read

A complete issue · 16 pages · 1884

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374

1884 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 374 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

Gold Dust Tom; or, Ambergris Ben's Double Match by George Henry Morse. This Western adventure serial appears in Beadle and Adams's weekly publication (Vol. XV, No. 374, September 23, 1884). The story follows two protagonists: Ambergris Ben, a weathered sea-rover and whaler who made his fortune harvesting ambergris from dead whales, and Gold Dust Tom, a mining scout and stage-driver known throughout the Pacific slope for his martial prowess and defense of the vulnerable. When Ben loses five thousand dollars to crooked faro dealing by gambler Horace Ellis in a San Francisco gambling den, Tom intervenes, exposes the fraud, and forces Ellis to repay the stolen money. After dispatching two assassins sent by the vengeful Ellis, Tom rushes back to Ben's hotel following gunshots and cries for help, discovering villainy afoot. The narrative combines frontier action with mystery elements surrounding Tom's undisclosed motives.

Browse this issue page by page

Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.