Franklin's Miscellany, Vol. II, No. 82

This penny weekly serializes Richelieu, a theatrical adaptation engraved in the woodcut style typical of 1830s popular prints. The scene depicts Cardinal Richelieu among courtiers in an ornate palace—all rendered in the bold lines and flattened perspective of cheap reproduction. Franklin's Miscellany exemplified the penny press's reach: serialized drama, natural history, and useful knowledge packaged for working readers at a price they could afford. These illustrated weeklies preceded the comic book by decades, establishing the template of episodic narrative, visual spectacle, and mass production for audiences hungry for sensation, scandal, and sensation alongside self-improvement.