A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1878 — 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 · 1878

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 59

1878 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 59 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 59 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 59 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 59 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

Old Hickory; or, Pandy Ellis's Scalp by Harry St. George (1878). A frontier adventure serial combining western action with humor. Chapter I depicts hunters Blue Beans and Powder Flash, a Comanche chief, camping in the forest when enemies hidden in trees ambush them. After exchanging gunfire, the pair flee through dark woods, their pursuers stumbling and falling during the chase until only a few remain—whom Blue Beans and Flash then turn to confront. Chapter II introduces three veteran rangers—Rocky Mountain Joe, Roaring Ralph Rockwood, and Bolly Wherrit—tracking through forests at sunset. They discover a posted placard nailed to a tree offering substantial rewards (buffalo robes, furs, rifle, ammunition, whisky) from seven Sioux chiefs for the scalp of "Heavy Knife," identified as Pandy Ellis. Bolly, Ellis's old friend, expresses delight at this bounty on his comrade, unaware that Ellis himself lurks nearby, overhearing their conversation with amusement.

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