Frank Leslie's Chimney Corner

Frank Leslie's Chimney Corner, No. 21, Vol. I (New York, 1865). This weekly illustrated story paper brought serialized fiction to American family readers at modest cost. The wood-engraved cover image depicts a nighttime scene: figures with a lantern discover a man lying injured or dead on the ground, their gestures conveying alarm and urgency. The ornamental masthead in display type announces the paper's title, while columns of text below promise the week's installment, "The Lost Heir." Part of Frank Leslie's publishing empire, Chimney Corner exemplified the picture-paper format that dominated American popular print culture in the second half of the nineteenth century—cheap, weekly, profusely illustrated, and aimed at broad household consumption. These serial publications established the visual-narrative conventions that would evolve into modern comic books and graphic storytelling.