A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1884 — all 32 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 · 32 pages · 1884

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279

1884 · Free to read

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 2 of 32 — 2 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 3 of 32 — 3 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 4 of 32 — 4 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 5 of 32 — 5 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 6 of 32 — 6 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 7 of 32 — 7 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 8 of 32 — 8 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 9 of 32 — 9 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 10 of 32 — 10 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 11 of 32 — 11 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 12 of 32 — 12 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 13 of 32 — 13 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 14 of 32 — 14 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 15 of 32 — 15 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 16 of 32 — 16 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 17 of 32 — 17 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 18 of 32 — 18 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 19 of 32 — 19 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 20 of 32 — 20 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 21 of 32 — 21 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 22 of 32 — 22 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 23 of 32 — 23 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 24 of 32 — 24 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 25 of 32 — 25 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 26 of 32 — 26 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 27 of 32 — 27 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 28 of 32 — 28 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 29 of 32 — 29 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 30 of 32 — 30 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 31 of 32 — 31 / 32

Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 279 — page 32 of 32 — 32 / 32

About this issue

This 1884 pulp fiction issue features "Po-8, the Lone Highwayman" by William H. Manning, a Western crime serial split across multiple chapters. In the opening narrative, a grotesquely-disguised stage robber known as Black Bart or "Po-8" ambushes the Fort Ross to Russian River stage-coach, stealing a substantial fortune belonging to the brokerage firm Egerton & Wheatley. The robbery precipitates the death of partner Wilbur Wheatley via heart attack upon learning the financial disaster. Wheatley's daughter Editha and his young son Edgar return home to find the firm bankrupt and their family fortune lost. Edgar vows action rather than despair. The narrative explores complications: agent Miles Gilbert claims he was ill when the robbery occurred, though suspicion falls upon him for permitting the money's transport by vulnerable means. Detectives pursue the elusive Black Bart, aided only by a cryptic doggerel message signed "Po-8" left in the empty treasure-box. The serial combines elements of frontier robbery, financial ruin, family tragedy, and detective mystery.

Browse this issue page by page

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