A complete, restored issue of Penny Dreadfuls from 1897 — all 16 pages of cheap serialized Victorian sensation fiction — crime, horror, and lurid melodrama, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

← Back to Penny Dreadfuls All exhibitions

Home › Exhibition › Penny Dreadfuls › Read

A complete issue · 16 pages · 1897

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer

1897 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library: Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This 1897 Beadle and Adams penny dreadful features "Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer; Or, The Cruise of the Queer Fish" by Herrick Johnstone. The narrative, set in May 1813, follows Barney Blake, a young sailor who ships aboard the privateer brigantine Queer Fish out of Boston. The vessel, commanded by the humorous Captain Joker and armed with six eighteen-pounder guns, carries a colorful crew of 125 men including boatswain Tony Trybrace, the taciturn Roderick Prinn and young Willie Warner, the enormous cook Snollygoster, and various other sailors. The first mate, a disagreeable Scotsman, is universally despised. The narrative establishes the crew's camaraderie through practical jokes and introduces the ship's departure from Boston with a comic incident involving a stranded Polish Jewish peddler. The story anticipates naval action against British vessels during the War of 1812.

Browse this issue page by page

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