The dime novels were a major innovation in United States book publishing and marketing during the nineteenth century. Generally speaking, they were paper bound novels of roughly 100 pages each that cost ten cents U.S. (“one dime”) per copy, and were issued in numbered series. The first true dime novel, that is, the first paper bound novel that was branded specifically as such, was Ann Stephens'
Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter, published in 1860. It was issued as the inaugural number of publisher Beadle and Company's new “Beadle's Dime Novels” series. Beadle continued to publish titles in this series, at the rate of roughly two novels a month, for the next 14 years, until the series was replaced with
Beadle's New Dime Novels.
The “Beadle's Dime Novels” were
1722 words
Citation: Ramsey, Colin. "Dime Novels". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4156, accessed 26 November 2024.]
