ABSTRACT
Dime novels, paperback thrillers first published in 1860, were one of the first forms of American mass-circulation literature. Descendants of serialized story papers dating back to the 1840s, their first mass audience was Civil War soldiers. The plots of the dime novels were familiar to readers of higher-priced fiction, thrown into bolder relief and stripped of all dilemmas of the soul. Their cheap price (originally a dime, later a nickel) reflected the concern of their writers and publishers to sell as many copies as possible and also made them readily available to segments of the population who might not have the means or time to do much reading. Content, which was often drawn from newspaper crime reporting and other contemporary accounts,1 was selected for its popular appeal and its resonance with popular attitudes and imagery. And since they reflected popular attitudes, the novels in turn reinforced them in the minds of readers already prepared by earlier reading experiences with gothic novels, and penny newspaper sensational crime stories, as well as with ‘blood and thunder’ theatrical productions.
