New Series. No. 10. March, 1935.
62
Wanted: Boys
Leisure Hour, Boys Standard, Boys of
69
BY BARRY ONO
I HAVE met most of the big collectors of Penny Dreadfuls, and it has only just occurred to me, that taking them all round, they are a most cultured class, some even coming under the category of “highbrow.” Comprising as they do schoolmasters, clergymen, lawyers, doctors, authors, actors, librarians, etc. puts this contention beyond dispute. But more to it than that, it is extraordinary, taking them all round, what a mild mannered and inoffensive crowd they are. I would vouch for it, that probably not one of them has ever been guilty of a really violent action in his life. Yet we get this extraordinary complex. The more mild mannered they are, the more they enjoy the really Fierce titles of the bloodiest of the old “bloods.” Strange, but none the less true, and mayhap Nature’s compensation for some latent atavistic strata in their composition that throws back on to some bold and adventurous ancestor, or just because they can chuckle and gloat over just those scenes and gory incidents they would never in their wildest dreams in real life be a party to. Thus we find the books with the fiercest Titles command the biggest prices, quite irrespective of any literary value.
When E. Lloyd published “The String of Pearls, or; the Sailor’s Gift” it meant nothing. But when enterprising Charlie Fox of The Boys’ Standard purloined it, and re-hashed it under the title of “Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet,” he not only showed genius, but made quite a lot of money, and “Todd” has sat on the Dreadful throne ever since. Just that one word “Demon” did the trick. Plus of course the precious wrapper depicting the unhappy victim impaled on the spikes beneath the mythical but famous trap. Yes; to the mild gentleman collector, “Todd” has to this day reigned supreme and unapproachable. Closely following in his footsteps comes “Varney the Vampyre, or; the Feast of Blood.” Oh; my meek and harmless old bald headed brother collector, isn’t that a simply delicious title! How it trips off one’s tongue. Fancy Possessing such a treasure eh; Never let your wife know what you gave for it, or mayhap you will not find her quite so meek. Inspired by this gem we get “Varney the Vulture, or the Track of the Doomed.” I have never seen a copy, only the announcement of its advent on the back of the wrapper of one of my scarce ones. Then one by the author of “Charley Wag” entitled “Vice, or; the Secret Crimes of London.” Never seen a copy, but must, admit I positively thirst for one. I have been told, that out of a spirit of mischief I coin some of these titles but give me a call any old time, and I will show you “The Secret Oath, or the Blood Stained Dagger.” Juicy, isn’t it?
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“Spring Heeled Jack, or; the Terror of London” uniform with,
and twin brother to Fox’s “Sweeny Todd.”
To the ardent collector it is just sheer misery to be without a
copy. “Three fingered Jack, the Terror
of the
“The Skeleton Horseman, or; the Shadow of Death,” “The Skeleton Crew, or; Wildfire Ned,” “Melina the Murderess,” “The She Tiger, or; the Female Fiend,” “Dare Devil Dick, the Boy King of the Smugglers,” “Lion Limb, the Boy King of the South Sea Islands,” and “The Secrets of the Sewers of London,” are all sure of an honoured place on the shelves of the meek ones, if they are lucky enough to land them. My house positively reeks with them and their kind, and nothing pleases me more than to give positively sadistic joy, to some harmless and venerable old gentleman who comes along to see me, and have a peep at what is to him a most delightful “Chamber of Horrors.” No wonder old man Lloyd told his wood block engraver (reputed to be the late Geo. Augustus Sala in his young and struggling days) “That he must make his pictures more fierce” and that “He wanted the eyes protruding from their sockets, and the blood seen sprouting from the wounds.” No mistake our Grandfathers liked red meat. Can it be wondered that their grandsons want to have a peep at what the naughty old boy used to revel in when he was young. Hence, as a rule, the fiercer the title the bigger the price. The inexorable law of “Supply and demand.” Well, as my wigwam is reputed to contain the biggest number of scalps on its walls, I must be the worst of the lot.
BARRY ONO COLLECTION.
7th. LIST.
(Continued from No. 9.)
“Secrets of the Dissecting Room,” 6 nos. No Publisher, about 1840.
“Will Watch the Smuggler,” 47 nos. W. Clark, 1842.
“The Blue Dwarf,” (not the Hogarth House version by P. B. St. John, but the original “Gentleman George” version) E. Harrison, 60 nos. 1861.
“Criminal Annals of Highwaymen,” 35 nos. R. Macdonald, 1841.
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“Oliver Cromwell, or; Cavaliers and Roundheads,” 14 nos. W. Strange, 1841.
“The Backwood Rangers,” Percy B. St. John, 27 nos. W. Sully, 1861.
“Mysteries of Old St. Pauls,” 17 nos. G. Vickers, 1841.
“Mysteries of the Inquisition,” 16 nos. G. Pierce, 1842.
“Alice Leighton, or; the Murder at the Druid’s Stones,” 51 nos. W. Clarke, 1850.
“Vidocq, the French Jonathan Wild,” 26 nos. J. Chidley, 1848.
“The Boy Sailor,” 33 nos. Newsagents’ Pub. Co. 1861.
“The Boy Soldier, or; Garibaldi’s Young Captain,” 48 nos. G. Howe, 1871.
“Gipsey Madge, or; the Thieves of
“Robert Bruce The Hero King,” 56 nos. J. Dicks, 1852.
“The Criminal Recorder, a New Newgate Calendar,” 15 nos. H. Beale. 1851.
“The Terrific Record,” 48 nos. E. Steill, 1836.
“The Terrific Register,” 63 nos. No publisher, about 1836
“The New Terrific Register,” 90 nos. S. Robins, 1838.
“Retribution, or; the Oath, the Curse, and the Crime,” 12 nos. W. Dugdale, no date.
“Melina the Murderess,” 29 nos. W. Caffyn, 1854.
“Dick Turpin’s Ride to York,” 9 nos. G. Purkess, 1848.
“Sam Hall the Burglar,” 12 nos. H. Benter, 1848.
“Roderick Dhu, the Scottish Outlaw,” 57 nos. G. Purkess, 1850.
“King of the Beggars, or; Bamfylde Moore Carew,” 38 nos. G. Purkess, 1851.
“Jack Rann,” (Sixteen String Jack.) 52 nos. G. Purkess, 1845.
(To be continued)
None of the above are for sale, only inserted to interest readers of “The Collector’s Miscellany.”
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(By AN OLD BOY)
I’m Seventy five! I’m Seventy-five!
Happy that I am yet alive;
My thanks are due to Sister dear
For making Home this many a year,
I shelter in my ingle-nook,
Find greatest pleasure in a book,
Stroll on the Prom, or through the Park,
Sleep well, rise early (minus lark),
Eat with clean relish simple food,
Taste not strong drink, but water good,
Ne’er on tobacco waste my pence,
But gifted with uncommon sense
Buy books instead, whose pages fair
Leave no foul fumes to taint the air,
And though of friends I’m nigh bereft,
I welcome aye the few still left,
And not least those who share with me
A love of bygone fantasy,
Who revel in “Jack Harkaway,”
“Tom Wildrake,” “Ching Ching,” and “Poor Ray,”
“Spangles and Gold,” “Ne’er-do-well Tim,”
“Black Bess,” and “Blueskin,” “Lion Limb,”
With scores of others, beyond praise,
That brightened boyhood’s dullest days.
So now that I have lived to see
Last quarter of a century,
One blessing that I most enjoy
Is that though “Old” I’m still a “Boy.”
30 Brougham Road, Wallasey,
January, 1935. GEORGE GILBERTSON
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J. K. GREEN (1808?) 1811.
J. K. G REEN is a most important figure in the history of the Juvenile Drama. There is good reason to suppose he was the earliest publisher of all, and may actually have produced some prints about 1808, but I have never heard of anyone who has seen them, and the earliest sheet of Green’s in the British museum Collection is dated 1812.
Green himself claims to have been “The Original Inventor” (of the Juvenile Drama) and this claim is boldly stated on some of his sheets dated 1834, which I have in my collection. Whether this is an actual fact or not will probably never be ascertained, but it is important to note that no other publisher ever made a similar claim, and the honour of having invented “Juvenile Drama” seems to rest between Green and West.
Green published at various addresses in the Walworth Road district of London. Very little is known of his earliest productions, and the sheet referred to above in the British Museum Collection is a copy of one of West’s plates in “The Secret Mine.” After a few years Green suddenly stopped publishing altogether, and nothing is known of him for a period of nearly 20 years, when he made a re-appearance about 1832 and then continued publishing for many years, indeed, I believe Green was longer in the trade than any of his competitors.
He does not appear to have done his business direct, but disposed of his sheets through various other people notably J. Redington, whose name is printed on many of Green’s plates. When Green finally retired from the publishing business, these plates were taken over by J. Redington who continued printing for some years until his son in law Mr. B. Pollock, of Hoxton Street, succeeded to the business which he still carries on at the old address. Long may this delightful old gentleman continue to sell his plays!
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With the exception of Mr. Matthews of Acton who has now retired from business, Mr. Pollock is the last of the “Old Brigade.” But to return to Green, most of his plays were of the transpontine variety. He favoured good old “blood and thunder” dramas, originally produced at such theatres as the “Royal Coburg” (the present “Old Vic.”) “The Royal Pavilion” and the “Queens,” “Olympic” and similar homes of the drama which have long vanished, but where for many years the popular dramatic taste was catered for.
Green went in strongly for plays about Highwaymen and Pirates. Included in his list were “Jack Sheppard” (a marvellous production stated to be in 64 sheets) of which I have only about half. He also did “Sixteen String Jack” and “Rookwood” with a Panorama of Turpin’s Ride to York, “Robert Macaire,” “The Red Rover” and “Blackbeard the Pirate.” The “Battle of Alma,” “Waterloo” and “The Flying Dutchman” are also in his list, and of course our old friend “The Miller and His Men.”
I wonder how many versions of the good old “Miller” were done by the various publishers of Juvenile Drama. Nearly all of them put out at least one version, and Skelt did several at various times, but these were taken over from other publishers. The “Miller” was easily the favourite and I have about fifteen different versions in my own collection. It was certainly one of the best plays ever done.
Green’s pantomimes were particularly good and “Harlequin Riddle-me-Ree” was one of the best ever done. His portraits were also very popular and, although in my humble opinion they do not compare with West’s or Hodgson’s, they are still valuable as pictures of famous actors and actresses of the long forgotten past.
I have a large number of Green’s sheets in my collection including many of his plays complete with the original book of words, but I am still many sheets short after years of searching for them.
I recently came across a large parcel of Green’s sheets, but, alas, there were many duplicates and I found to my disappointment I already possessed most of them. And they were going at one penny each!
I have several of Green’s plays complete except for one or two plates, and if any collector of Juvenile Drama should read these lines I hope he will communicate with me through the Editor and we might be able to arrange to exchange duplicates and help each other in various ways. In any case I should be very pleased to hear from any collectors of these fascinating sheets which have given me so much pleasure.
M. W. STONE
78
Sale: Young
Englishman’s Journal, two vols, Young Men of Great Britain, four vols, Boys’ World,
1890, Boys of Empire (Coloured), 1888. Blue
Dwarf, Sixteen String Jack, and others. Stamp
for particulars. George Gilbertson,
Wanted: Aldine
Libraries,
For sale or exchange.
Several volumes of Boys of England, Boys Comic Journal, etc. Also numerous complete items. Wanted, “Bloods” and journals prior to 1900. Medcraft,
For
79
Wanted Newnes
Dick Turpin Library (3d), Nos 10, 12-48, 50, 108; Newnes’ Black Bess Library (second
series) Nos 14, 15, 18, 21, 35, 37, 38; The Bullseye Nos 5—13, and 17 to 50;
The Thriller, Nos 177 to 195. Also old
Aldine 1d (one penny) bloods wanted. Send
list of what you have with prices for same.
Ralph F. Cummings, Pleasant Street,
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Wanted “Penny Dreadfuls” and fierce Boys Journals 1840 to 1900. Large collection ditto for Sale or Exchange. 3d. for list, World’s Biggest Collector, Buyer, Exchanger, Barry Ono, 100, Ferndale Road, Clapham, London.
Wanted. Newnes (3d) Dick Turpin Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 19, & 20, Newnes (2d) Black Bess Library (small series)) No. 16, Aldine Robin Hood (2d) Nos. 37, and 38 6d each offered. All old Aldine Libraries, Boys Friend Library, (A.P.C.) Robin Hood Library, Henderson’s Rob Roy, Marvel, Pluck, Penny Poplar, etc. Parks, Printer, Saltburn-by-Sea, Yorks, England.
Wanted British Bloods and Penny Dreadfuls, in volumes or runs, also old songsters, sheet music, broadsides, playbills, etc. James Madison, 465, So. Detroit Street, Los Angeles, Cal., U.S.A. London references furnished.