ABSTRACT
Issued from 1874-1934, these mass-produced, inexpensive papercovered publications, were initially printed in small newspaper format. The contemporary trade referred to them also as "series" and "weeklies." They were often pirated reprints of English novels or translations of French, German, and Russian ones, as well as unprotected American books. In addition to the works of the most prominent authors, such as Flaubert, Zola, Dickens, Scott, Thackeray, Shakespeare, Eliot, Poe, Cooper, and Irving, the libraries contained romances and sensational stories; thus appeared a host of titles such as "Donna Quixote," "A Week of Passion," and "Women Are Strange." 4 English pirates and American pirates had a merry time; they stole stories from their own countrymen as well as from each other. Piracy flourished on both sides of the Atlantic.
