Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 14

Beadle's Half-Dime Library, Issue 98, 1877

This issue contains "The Wonderful Lamp," a serialized fantasy narrative based on the Arabian Nights tale of Aladdin. The story follows an idle tailor's son in a Chinese capital whose father dies after failing to instill discipline. After the boy's father's death, a traveling African magician identifies the youth as useful for his purposes and befriends him through gifts and kindness. The magician lures Aladdin into a valley between mountains, where he uses incense and magical incantations to open a stone-sealed cavern. He instructs Aladdin to descend into three halls filled with gold and silver vessels, traverse a garden, and retrieve a specific lamp from a niche—carefully warning against touching the walls. Aladdin successfully navigates the halls and garden, discovering the fruits are actually precious gems (diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires), which he collects. Upon emerging, Aladdin refuses to hand over the lamp until reaching ground level. The enraged magician seals the cave with Aladdin still inside, revealing his deceptive intentions.