Preview
Creation Date
2-28-2025
Description
The first recorded appearance of a “Dime Novel” dates to the years immediately preceding the American Civil War. The combination of lurid tales of “daring-do” with romance and adventure quickly overtook sales of more traditional formats across the nation, as well as in England. Also known as “Penny Dreadfuls,” these cheaply-produced books were sold by street vendors, or in dry good stores, for a dime or nickel, thereby earning their catchy nicknames. Although each narrative was varied, the standard plot featured a hero or heroine placed in a dramatic situation. Faced with a terrible moral dilemma, the protagonist always chose the path of virtue. This display case features titles based on current events, such as Wesley Bradshaw’s Maud of the Mississippi: Gen’l Grant’s Daring Spy, published at the height of the Civil War and works by Mississippian Joseph Holt Ingraham and his son, Prentiss Ingraham, the most prolific author in Mississippi's literary history.
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