A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1880 — all 20 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 · 20 pages · 1880

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130

1880 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 2 of 20 — 2 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 3 of 20 — 3 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 4 of 20 — 4 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 5 of 20 — 5 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 6 of 20 — 6 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 7 of 20 — 7 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 8 of 20 — 8 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 9 of 20 — 9 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 10 of 20 — 10 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 11 of 20 — 11 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 12 of 20 — 12 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 13 of 20 — 13 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 14 of 20 — 14 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 15 of 20 — 15 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 16 of 20 — 16 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 17 of 20 — 17 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 18 of 20 — 18 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 19 of 20 — 19 / 20

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 130 — page 20 of 20 — 20 / 20

About this issue

This 1880 Beadle and Adams dime novel serializes "Detective Dick: or, The Hero in Rags" by Charles Morris. The story follows Dick, a street boy of sixteen dressed in tattered cast-offs, as he delivers a letter from H. Wilson Harris to Ned Hogan, a middle-aged detective. The letter, read aloud with comic interruptions, complains of Dick's impertinent behavior and summons Hogan to Chester, Pennsylvania on urgent business involving a schooner called the Lucy and its red-haired mate. Hogan rushes to telegraph Harris in cipher, then stations himself outside a stylish townhouse to conduct surveillance. Meanwhile, inside that house, a sweet-voiced lady practices music at the piano. The narrative balances street-dialect comedy with detective intrigue involving mysterious cargo and suspects.

Browse this issue page by page

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