A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1878 — all 32 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 · 32 pages · 1878

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54

1878 · Free to read

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 2 of 32 — 2 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 3 of 32 — 3 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 4 of 32 — 4 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 5 of 32 — 5 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 6 of 32 — 6 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 7 of 32 — 7 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 8 of 32 — 8 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 9 of 32 — 9 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 10 of 32 — 10 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 11 of 32 — 11 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 12 of 32 — 12 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 13 of 32 — 13 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 14 of 32 — 14 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 15 of 32 — 15 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 16 of 32 — 16 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 17 of 32 — 17 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 18 of 32 — 18 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 19 of 32 — 19 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 20 of 32 — 20 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 21 of 32 — 21 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 22 of 32 — 22 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 23 of 32 — 23 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 24 of 32 — 24 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 25 of 32 — 25 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 26 of 32 — 26 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 27 of 32 — 27 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 28 of 32 — 28 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 29 of 32 — 29 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 30 of 32 — 30 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 31 of 32 — 31 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 54 — page 32 of 32 — 32 / 32

About this issue

This dime novel installment, from Beadle's Library No. 98, opens with a scene in a frontier saloon where an Irish laborer named Pat and an enslaved Black man named Sam perform a competitive dance—a jig and breakdown—for assembled rough frontiersmen. Their employer, the elderly Mr. Jasper Haveland, arrives and orders them away. A ruffian called Spanish Dave intervenes, claiming money has been wagered on the dance's outcome and preventing them from leaving. When Haveland strikes Dave with his cane, the crowd turns hostile. At this critical moment, a mysterious gunman called "The Sportive"—identifiable by his revolver marked "Always"—appears in the doorway, his mere presence dispersing the mob and saving Haveland. The narrative fragment concludes as The Sportive confronts Spanish Dave, suggesting an imminent confrontation.

Browse this issue page by page

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