Beadle’s Dime Novels series description
Beadle’s Dime Novels
Beadle’s Frontier Series
The Seaside Library
Secret Service Series
The War Library
The Weekly Novelette
“BOOKS FOR THE MILLION! A DOLLAR BOOK FOR A DIME!!” New York Tribune, June 7, 1860
The Beadle’s Dime Novels series was published by Beadle & Company of New York, starting with the issue of June 9, 1860, and ending with issue No. 321 on November 17, 1874. The series possessed several distiniguishing features, notably that it literally “coined” the term “dime novel:” each issue of the series carried the imprint of a U. S. coin showing the words “ONE DIME,” which a Supreme Court decision ultimately ruled could be the publisher’s exclusive and protected trademark... so a private company somehow managed to trademark an official United States of America coin. Other distinguishing features advertised by the publisher were that the novels were original; were written by select authors; and were not “sensational” (an adjective apparently considered to have negative connotations).
The Beadle’s Dime Novels series was published by Beadle & Company of New York, starting with the issue of June 9, 1860, and ending with issue No. 321 on November 17, 1874. The series possessed several distiniguishing features, notably that it literally “coined” the term “dime novel:” each issue of the series carried the imprint of a U. S. coin showing the words “ONE DIME,” which a Supreme Court decision ultimately ruled could be the publisher’s exclusive and protected trademark... so a private company somehow managed to trademark an official United States of America coin. Other distinguishing features advertised by the publisher were that the novels were original; were written by select authors; and were not “sensational” (an adjective apparently considered to have negative connotations).