Mark Seifert

@markseifert.bleedingcool.com

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Vintage paper addict, co-founder of Avatar Press, managing editor of Bleeding Cool. Interest in American periodical publishing history including dime novels, pulps, newspapers, magazines, golden age & silver age comics. I mostly post about old paper here.

Engraved illustration showing a masked groom and heavily veiled bride standing before a clergyman inside a church.

Brief news item titled "A Ghostly Voice." The May 31, 1890 issue of The Argosy reports an anecdote about Thomas Edison rigging one of his phonographs in a clock to prank a house guest into believing the house was haunted.

#PhantomsFriday A news item from 'The Evening World', New York, November 16, 1888, about a violent ghost haunting an unassuming tenement house at No. 581 Third Avenue.

A full-page illustration from Scientific American dated January 1, 1887, showing Moses S. Cole’s experimental aerial vessel. The craft resembles a large, oval balloon or rigid airship with a textured, net-like envelope. Four mechanical propellers extend from arms on either side, and a small gondola hangs beneath the center, equipped with windows and a dangling anchor. Below, a rural landscape is visible with farm buildings, trees, and groups of men and women gathered to watch the airship hovering low above the ground.

Political cartoon from The Daily Graphic (New York, August 16, 1879) showing Jefferson Davis as a hunched, cloaked figure sneaking toward a doorway labeled “U.S. Senate.” Davis clutches a document titled “Articles of Secession,” and appears furtive and diminished. Behind him, ghostly skeletal figures carry tattered flags labeled “States’ Rights,” “Treason,” and “Lost Cause,” suggesting the legacy haunting his political ambitions.

Political cartoon from Yankee Notions (Vol. IV, No. 3, March 1855), showing New York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett Sr. as a large, shadowy central figure looming behind other newspaper men at a table. Bennett appears with outstretched arms, his dark silhouette dominating the scene like a menacing presence. A caption beneath the scene reads “Triumph of the ‘Satanic Press.’”

Overhead photograph of several small-format booklets. At the top are multiple pink issues of Blood and Thunder Story Paper, with visible mastheads, prices marked “5¢ Copy,” and publication dates from the early 1930s. Below them are two cream-colored issues of Midget Monthly Magazine, showing title blocks, story headings, advertising rates, and publication details from 1930–1931.

Engraved illustration from The Illustrated Police News No. 692, dated January 31, 1880. The scene shows a startled man recoiling from a translucent female apparition seated in a horse-drawn buggy at night. The caption below reads: “A Genuine Girl’s Ghost at New Carlisle, Ind.—What George Brown Says Got into the Buggy with Him and ‘Wouldn’t Stand Hugging.’”

Front cover of Frank Leslie’s Chimney Corner, dated December 25, 1875. The cover illustration shows a supernatural confrontation inside a vast stone temple. At left, a tall, spectral figure in flowing robes stands amid swirling vapor, emitting a ghostly light. At right, a frightened man recoils backward against a column, clutching his coat as he stares in terror at the apparition.

Front page of The Boys of New York, Vol. VIII, #386, dated January 6, 1888, with the top banner “Out To-Day! The Holiday Number of The Boys of New York.” Beneath the ornate masthead, a large circular illustration depicts a tense frontier scene in a winter forest. Several human skeletons stand upright, tied to bare trees. At right, two frontier scouts in buckskin clothing come upon the scene in surprise. The scene is titled, “Kit Carson’s Little Scout, by Gaston Garne." Gaston Garne is one of the prolific Francis W. Doughty's pseudonyms.

Cover page of Beadle’s Half‑Dime Library, Vol. I, No. 19, published in 1877 by Beadle and Adams. The ornate masthead fills the top of the page above columns of dense text introducing the story “The Phantom Spy; or, The Pilot of the Prairie,” attributed to Buffalo Bill. A large engraved illustration occupies the lower half, showing a dramatic nighttime prairie scene under a full moon. At right, a man stands holding the reins of a rearing horse, turning to look toward a ghostly, semi-transparent rider galloping away on a pale horse. A caption beneath the image reads, “Then heed my warning. Farewell!”

Full-page comic-style illustrated back cover from Fox’s Illustrated Weekly Doings No. 67, dated July 19, 1884. The page presents depictions of women experiencing various stages of intoxication and distress. The central image shows two fashionably dressed women stumbling arm-in-arm while onlookers laugh or stare. Surrounding panels include a woman collapsed on the floor being assisted by a man, a woman slumped asleep on a sofa, a man sneaking away from a storefront labeled “Drugs,” and women drinking at a counter while one drops to the floor. The illustration is captioned “Woman’s Dangerous Exhilarant,” with a subtitle warning that the use of calisaya bark as a tonic is demoralizing women and enriching drug stores.

Front page from Beadle’s Half-Dime Library, Vol. I, No. 1, published by Beadle and Adams. The ornate masthead spans the top with elaborate lettering. The story title reads “Deadwood Dick, Prince of the Road; or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills.” Among the text columns, a large black-and-white wood-engraved illustration shows a masked character reining in his horse beside a tree bearing a reward poster reading “$500 REWARD—DEADWOOD DICK.”

Color illustrated cover of Frank Manley’s Weekly, No. 16, dated December 22, 1905, from Frank Tousey, Publisher. The masthead reads “Good Stories of Young Athletes,” with a banner proclaiming “The Best Athletic Christmas Story Ever Penned!” The main illustration depicts a festive indoor scene as a deliverymen carry a large crate labeled for Frank Manley through an open doorway decorated with Christmas garlands and a “Merry Christmas” sign. Several hockey players wearing red sweaters and ice skates or holding hockey sticks gather excitedly around. Snow is visible outside the door. The story title below the masthead reads, “Frank Manley’s Christmas Gift; or, The Luck That Ice Hockey Brought.”

Front page of Yankee Notions, Volume 5, No. 12, dated December 1856, published by Thomas W. Strong. The page is topped by an elaborate illustrated masthead reading “Yankee Notions,” surrounded by whimsical caricatures, patriotic symbols, and comic figures in motion. The central engraving depicts a slapstick hunting accident titled “A Dead Shot,” showing a man tumbling off a collapsing wooden shooting platform while firing at a turkey.

Caricature of John Baldwin Buckstone by Herbert Watkins, late 1850s, using a combination of photography and drawing.

Front page from The Lakeside Library series Vol. 2 #28, titled “Christmas Stories” by Charles Dickens, published by Donnelley, Loyd & Co. The page features the opening of A Christmas Carol in Prose, beginning with “Stave One—Marley’s Ghost.” An engraved illustration dominates the center of the page, showing Ebenezer Scrooge sitting at his fireplace as the ghost of Jacob Marley appears, in chains. There is a single candle on a table between them.

Illustrated cover of Famous Crimes, Past and Present, Police Budget Edition, Vol. III No. 29, edited by Harold Furniss and priced at one penny. The central engraving shows three men in a dim interior examining a severed human leg placed inside a round basket or tub. One man lifts cloth from the limb while another looks on, suggesting forensic inspection. Ornate Victorian borders frame the scene, and a caption beneath reads, “Another Leg Was Revealed,” referencing the sensational crime story inside.

Engraving from The Illustrated Police News (Boston), issue No. 432, February 4, 1875.
The scene depicts the interior of the Grand Opera House of NYC. A frightened night watchman recoils in terror from a figure appearing in a private box. The watchman, holding a lantern that swings from his hand as he stumbles backward, stares wide-eyed at the apparition.
Inside the ornate, curtained private theater box stands the spectral image of James Fisk Jr., dressed in a military-style coat with epaulets (he had been named a colonel of the 9th NY National Guard Infantry Regiment), arm extended as though pointing or accusing.

Full-page engraving from The Days’ Doings (No. 331, Sept. 26, 1874) illustrating “Adventure and Vision of a Pike’s Peak Tourist.”

The central scene shows a man lying unconscious on a rocky ledge beneath a steep mountain range, surrounded by swirling ghostly female figures who appear to drift toward him. Above them, owls fly through the night sky, and a gargoyle-like creature crouches on a cliff overlooking the scene.

At upper left is a smaller inset titled “The Fall,” depicting the man losing his footing and plummeting from a cliffside path. Below it, a second inset titled “The Rescue” shows two men lowering a rope to pull the fallen traveler up from a deep crevice.

At lower right, a final inset titled “The Return Home” shows the recovered man arriving at a doorway, greeted in relief by a woman.

Cover of the November 23, 1899 issue of Life magazine shows several comical figures playing football on a grassy field. The central figure is Uncle Sam, tall, thin, and wild-haired, running forward with exaggeratedly long strides while holding a large globe of the Earth instead of a football. All the players wear athletic clothing reminiscent of turn-of-the-century football gear. The scene is humorous and whimsical, drawn in soft pencil tones with “THANKSGIVING NO. 1899” printed prominently in yellow at the bottom.

A photo showing two Golden Age Superman comic books from 1943 with covers by Jack Burnley side by side on a wooden surface.
Left: Superman No. 21 (cover dated March–April), with a bright yellow background. The cover illustration shows a large image of Superman standing confidently with hands on hips while two painters on a suspended scaffold apply paint to a giant billboard of him.
Right: Superman No. 24 (cover dated September–October). This cover shows Superman standing on a path leading to a stylized city in the background, boldly holding a large American flag over his shoulder. The background features dramatic orange and black shading, creating a patriotic, heroic composition. Both comics are bagged and boarded.

An engraving from Illustrated Police News (of Boston), Sept. 10, 1874 shows two men with rifles and a frightened boy confronting a glowing, ghostly figure in a thicket of bushes at night. The apparition appears as a tall, bearded old man with long, flowing hair, emerging from dense undergrowth and lifting one arm two throw a stone. Stones and debris lie scattered around the men’s feet, and a small cabin stands in the distance. The scene conveys fear and surprise as the armed search party reacts to the supernatural ghost that has been tormenting a local boy.

The article recounts a reported ghost near New Martinsville, West Virginia. John Nolan, a thirteen-year-old boy, begins experiencing strange phenomena in early spring. While he first only sees the phantom near him around his house, the matter soon progresses as the phantom hurls stones at him no matter where he stands, inside the house, in the yard, or in the nearby fields. Only the boy can see his attacker, an old gray-haired man who repeatedly appears and vanishes.

As the disturbances intensify, neighbors become alarmed and organize an armed party, thinking this the work of some mortal attacker. But stones rain down on them as well, seemingly from nowhere. Eventually the men see the ghostly figure themselves, an elderly man in blue trousers and a loose shirt, with long white hair. The apparition repeatedly eludes the party, disappearing behind bushes and reappearing elsewhere. Their guns prove useless, as bullets either miss or the figure vanishes.

For two days the men pursue the ghost without success. A strange smoke later rises from bushes “from whence the stones came,” adding to the mystery. After multiple failed attempts to corner the spectral old man, the community abandons the investigation. The article concludes that while the events sound incredible, the story was vouched for “by citizens well known in the neighborhood,” leaving the haunting unresolved and the ghost’s identity unknown.

The portrait labeled “G. Douglass” likely refers to George Douglass, a prominent early-19th-century merchant and shipowner whose family firm evolved into the institutions that eventually became Dun & Bradstreet, the major American credit-rating and business-intelligence company.

Front cover of Happy Days No. 314, dated October 20, 1900. The story title reads Brother X; or, The Gobblers of Turkey Neck. The central illustration shows a dramatic confrontation in a Victorian parlor. A startled man in a striped suit leaps back as a masked assailants enter from the window to confront him at gunpoint. Behind them hangs a framed portrait labeled “C. Douglass,” and a table covered in papers and bills suggests the setting of a financial office. In the upper left inset, a circular vignette depicts a man’s portrait with the head of a turkey labeled “Brother X.” The caption below reads: “Mr. Burton gave a terrified exclamation, leaped to his feet, and reached for a revolver... ‘Drop it,’ cried Jack. ‘Drop it and throw up your hands, Burton, or you are a dead man.’”

Famous Crimes, Past and Present Vol. 3, No. 23, page 1 of article Authentic Ghost Stories, The text recounts the “Hammersmith Ghost” case, in which fear of a supposed specter led to a killing in early-19th-century London. An accompanying engraving shows a frightened woman in a churchyard fainting as a ghostly white-clad figure embraces her amid gravestones under moonlight. Caption: “Pressing her in his arms.”

Illustrated Police News of Boston #1062, Mar 5, 1887 shows Mrs. Ella A. Wells, a self-proclaimed “materializing medium”,being exposed as a fraud during a demonstration for the First Spiritualist Society of New York. The scene captures a man having pulled aside netting which had been put in place to prevent Wells from moving from her position in the dark. The same man also holds one of Wells' "ghost costumes" while another lays crumpled on the floor.
Mrs. Wells looks ashamed as she clutches at her dress. Around them, a startled audience of men and women observe the revelation with shock and fascination; one man points accusingly, while others lean forward or whisper to each other.

A satirical cartoon from the November 1850 issue of Punch, titled “The Guy Fawkes of 1850: Preparing to Blow Up All England!” The illustration depicts Pope Pius IX, wearing an ornate papal tiara and robes, bending forward toward a pile of mitres labeled with the names of English towns and parishes such as Clapham, Westminster, Pimlico, Margate, and Mile End, meant to draw an analogy to the powder kegs of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1905.

Illustration from Illustrated Police News, April 5, 1884, titled “Beauty’s Breeches—An Establishment for Fitting Actresses and Others of the Gentle Sex to Men’s Clothes.” The scene shows a tailor’s fitting room where two women are being measured and dressed in men’s-style garments. On the left, a tailor takes measurements for a jacket for a woman. At the center, another woman stands confidently before a mirror wearing a tailored men’s suit, her hand on her hip as she admires her reflection. In the foreground, a seated woman in a bonnet observes the fitting.

Front cover of L’Éclipse, issue no. 218 from December 29, 1872, featuring André Gill’s satirical caricature Le Bras Droit (“The Right Arm”). The illustration shows Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire, President Adolphe Thiers’s devoted secretary and adviser, literally transformed into a giant hand at the end of an arm labeled “GOUVERNEMENT.” His head merges into the arm as he bends forward, using a quill to write on sheets of paper, symbolizing how he serves as thehand of the French government and the conduit of goverment power.

Front cover of the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Novel titled “Synthetic Gentleman” by Channing Pollock, published January 20, 1935. The illustration depicts a man in a fedora and trench coat cautiously moving through a rain-soaked landscape at night, his figure reflected in puddles. Behind him loom trees and a distant house under heavy storm clouds. The art uses a limited palette of deep blue and red-orange, framed by vertical stripes.

Front cover of The Hotspur, No. 671, dated September 17, 1949, a British boys’ weekly story paper published by D.C. Thomson & Co. The headline story is titled “The Monster from the Deep.” The dynamic color illustration shows a gigantic sea creature rising violently from the ocean, towering above a cargo ship that pitches amid crashing waves. The monster is a hybrid of dragon and sea serpent, with green and gold scales, red underbelly, bat-like wings, a long neck, clawed limbs, and writhing tentacles sprouting from its sides. Its gaping mouth and yellow eyes convey menace as it looms over the imperiled ship. In the distance, rocky islands and a small fishing boat appear beneath a pale sky.

An illustrated page from Harper’s Weekly (October 23, 1858) showing multiple views of the experimental Winans Steamship, a cigar-shaped iron vessel designed by Baltimore inventors Ross and George Winans. The main image at the top, captioned “The Winans Steamship After Being Launched (From a Photograph),” depicts the smooth, spindle-shaped hull floating near the shipyard, resembling a massive metallic cylinder with pointed ends and a narrow deck spine. Smaller engravings below show “Building the Winans Steamer,” with workers assembling the ship beside a wooden boathouse; “End View (From a Photograph),” displaying the circular cross-section of the hull; and “Longitudinal and Cross Sections,” a technical line drawing detailing the ship’s inner compartments, boilers, and propeller shafts. The accompanying article describes the vessel’s unique form and anticipated efficiency at sea.

Front cover of The Boys of New York: A Paper for Young Americans, Vol. XIX, No. 944, dated September 16, 1893. The ornate masthead features elaborate typography. Below it, the lead serialized story is titled The White Wizard of the Bowery; or, The Boy Slaves of New York: A Story of the Mysteries of Mesmerism by Alexander Armstrong.

The large engraved illustration beneath the title depicts a dramatic occult scene. At the center, a young man in evening clothes kneels beside an unconscious woman lying within a pentagram, her body illuminated by torchlight. A robed and bearded man—depicted as a wizard or mesmerist—stands nearby holding an open book and pointing a wand tipped with a glowing star toward the woman. Four braziers at the corners of the scene emit heavy smoke, forming a mystical, ritualistic atmosphere. The caption beneath reads: “I see an old, old man. He stands over my prostrate form—he wears a gown of silk—he wears a curious cap upon his head—he reads from a book—he points with a brass wand from which shoots a fiery star— I see Will Spencer—he is kneeling beside me—with one hand he stirs the contents of the smoking dish.”

The text columns below begin the story.

John promises to marry Kate when he returns from one last voyage. She pleads with him not to go, haunted by a vague dread she cannot explain, a classic premonition of doom.

John jokes to reassure her, showing her a pair of stereoscope portraits recently taken of them both. He says she must look at his likeness whenever she misses him, and promises she will know he is safe “as long as the man in the stereoscope looks hearty and well.”

Kate keeps his stereoscopic photograph by her bedside. She looks through the device, trembling with fear until she sees his familiar smiling face. Each time, the sight comforts her; she takes it as a kind of supernatural assurance of his safety.

Time passes toward Kate's cousin Flora’s eagerly anticipated eighth birthday, for which a children’s party is being prepared. The party watches the colored slides — scenes of deserts, animals, and comic ghosts.

Meanwhile, the unnamed narrator has learned alarming news: It appears John's ship bound for California has exploded and burned at sea, with heavy loss of life.

Suddenly, Dobey announces in a joking tone that there are “rumors abroad this evening — rumors of a ship, name as yet only guessed at.” He does not realize the horror of what he’s saying. Then, as the next slide appears, the children cry out: a huge, ghastly, corpse-like face fills the screen — unmistakably John’s.

Kate gives one cry, then collapses, lifeless.

In the chaos that follows, the truth emerges. Dobey had, without thinking, used John’s stereoscopic photograph as one of his glass slides. The combination of light, color, and projection distorted the cheerful portrait into a ghostly image of death.

Then, in one final cruel twist, John himself arrives later that night. Alive and unharmed. He returns full of joy, only to find that Kate is dead.

Front page of Street and Smith’s New York Weekly, Vol. 40, No. 23, dated April 13, 1885. The masthead reads “A Journal of Useful Knowledge, Amusement, Romance, etc.” Below it, the main illustrated story is titled Seven-Foot Sam; or, The King of the Grizzlies by Reckless Ralph. The large wood engraving at center shows a dramatic wilderness scene: a towering frontiersman clad in buckskin and a fur cap, with a long beard and rifle slung across his back, grapples barehanded with a massive grizzly bear. The man’s left arm is raised in defense while his right drives a knife into the animal’s chest as the bear rears up to strike. The background shows craggy mountain cliffs and wild terrain. The illustration is captioned “Seven-Foot Sam.” The surrounding columns feature serialized text of the story, set in small, tightly packed type, typical of 19th-century illustrated fiction weeklies. The image conveys rugged frontier heroism and man-against-nature adventure—a staple of American popular fiction of the period.

Front page of the National Police Gazette, Vol. 2, No. 14, published in New York on Saturday, December 12, 1846. The masthead title is printed in bold black letters across the top, with the price listed as “Four Cents a Number.” Below the masthead, the main illustration depicts a dramatic scene captioned “The Robbers’ Awful Oath.” A skeletal figure holding an arrow, rises from behind a coffin, confronting a terrified man recoiling in fear with arms raised. The image accompanies the feature article in the “Lives of the Felons” series, this installment titled “John A. Murrell, the Great Western Land Pirate.” The text columns below and beside the illustration recount Murrell’s life and crimes, describing the initiation rites and oaths of his robber gang in lurid detail.

Front cover of Beadle’s New York Dime Library, Vol. XXXIII, No. 419, published November 3, 1886, by Beadle & Adams of New York. The featured story is The Bat of the Battery; or, Joe Phenix, King of Detectives by Albert W. Aiken. The engraving shows a dramatic nighttime waterfront scene under a full moon. In the foreground, a man in a wide-brimmed hat and long coat stands at the stern of a small rowboat, his arms raised as he confronts an approaching boat of armed pursuers. Another man fires a gun toward him, the muzzle flash bright against the dark water, while two additional figures row in pursuit. At the bottom left, the limp body of a woman lies in the bow of the first boat, illuminated faintly by moonlight. The text on the illustration reads “The Bat of the Battery” in large stylized letters. Below the image, the caption reads: “‘The vampire bat!’ exclaimed Blount, echoing the words of the bo'wswain.”

Color cover of The Black Cat magazine, September 1896 issue, published by The Shortstory Publishing Co., Boston. The central illustration shows a black cat dressed in a plaid suit, cap, and red tie, cheerfully riding a yellow bicycle with red rims against a gold background. The cat is anthropomorphic, pedaling confidently with a paw on the handlebar and a mischievous smile. A red circular emblem marked “5 Cents” appears in the upper right corner within a white laurel wreath. To the right, the issue date and story titles are listed: “The Reapers” by Batterman Lindsay, “A Kindergarten Hold-Up” by Mabel Shippe Clarke, “The Guardian of Mystery Island” by Dr. Edmond Nolcini, “A Mental Mischance” by Thomas F. Anderson, and “The Barber of the Alpena” by J. Harwood. The publisher’s imprint reads: “The Shortstory Publishing Co., 144 High St., Boston, Mass.”

The Literary Cadet is an obscure, short-run newspaper (1826-1829) edited by Sylvester S. Southworth, and published by Samuel J. Smith and Jonathan C. Parmenter, with the help of their apprentice Samuel Adams (no close relation to the political Adams' families, it appears). Southworth often wrote a column called "Travels of a Troglodyte", which he signed as "The Troglodyte", it's sort of a Tale of the Mysterious Traveler as filtered through Weird Tales bit of alternate (and time traveling!) reality fiction.

In this installment, the Troglodyte has traveled from Providence to NYC and finds it a booming, noisy, bustling place. He begins to wonder if we can maintain this level of civilization, and as he does, the cacophony of the various activity surrounding him begins to evoke the chanting of some prior era.

Disoriented, he encounters a man named Anthony Van Corlaer -- a fictional trumpeter of the 1640s New Amsterdam colony which would ultimately become New York (sort of an earlier version of Paul Revere... he was to sound his trumpet to signal that the British were coming, and appeared in Washington Irving's History of New York). But he knows that Van Corlaer should be long dead.

As he ponders the meaning of this, Van Corlaer sounds his horn, and reality dissolves, replaced by some future or alternate vision of NYC. The city is in ruins, decayed, overgrown. "the mart of the New World has become the dwelling of wild beasts -- not a record of her greatness remains."

Just as he thinks to seek out manuscripts of this ruined place so he can record the "History of New York" himself, he's startled back to reality, disappointed that the vision has slipped away. In closing, he notes a parade of "malicious soldiers" on Broadway, accompanied by a bugler whose instrument bears a "villainous resemblance" to Van Corlaer's trumpet.

A close-up photograph of four bound volumes of Beadle’s New York Dime Library, a 19th-century dime novel series. The spines are black leather with gold lettering and raised bands. The titles read “DIME LIBRARY” in uppercase, followed by the volume numbers stamped in gold. From left to right, the volumes are: Vol. III, showing significant wear and scuffing; Vol. IX, with moderate wear; Vol. XXXIII (33), with slightly more pronounced reddish wear near the spine bands; and Vol. XX (20), in relatively better condition.

ront cover of Beadle’s New York Dime Library, Vol. IX, No. 112, published December 15, 1880. The headline story is Joe Phenix, Private Detective; or, The League of the Skeleton Keys by Albert W. Aiken, advertised with the subtitle “The Man of Many Disguises!”. The dramatic wood-engraved illustration beneath the title depicts a tense underground scene inside a stone-vaulted chamber. At the center, detective Joe Phenix, dressed in plain clothes and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, stands defiantly facing a group of shadowy, hooded figures. A single light illuminates the chamber from above, casting eerie shadows and highlighting a skull-shaped ornament or projection on the ceiling. The cloaked figures, arranged in a semicircle, loom menacingly around Phenix, suggesting a secret society or criminal cabal. The caption below reads: “Don’t flatter yourself that we have not penetrated your disguise! We know that you are Joe Phenix.”

Front cover of Frank Leslie’s Boys’ and Girls’ Weekly, No. 696, dated February 21, 1880. The masthead is printed in ornate, illustrated lettering with decorative flourishes. The featured serial story is titled Tracked by a Pirate; Or, The Adventures of a Young Sponge-Hunter by Roger Starbuck (Augustus Comstock). A large engraved illustration dominates the page, showing a violent deckside struggle: a young man in naval-style clothing has wrestled a pirate to the ground while pointing a pistol at his face. The pirate, sprawled across the deck with sword nearby, grimaces in rage as he fights back. Behind them, another pirate charges forward with a cutlass raised, while a third figure, possibly an onlooker or shipmate, decends stairs with a pistol. Nautical details such as barrels, ropes, and wooden planks frame the chaotic scene. The caption beneath the image reads: “The pirate made a furious blow at the youth as the latter drew a pistol from his belt; but the young captain dodged the blow, and, taking aim, pulled the trigger of his weapon.”

The Stockholm Engine, 1855: An engraving of Scheutz’s New Calculating Machine, an early mechanical computer based on Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine design. The machine is built on a large wooden base and consists of a complex arrangement of gears, wheels, and vertical rods connected to number wheels arranged in rows. A hand crank on the left is used to operate the mechanism, which could automatically calculate and print mathematical tables. The detailed engraving shows the intricate interlocking gears and numbered drums, reflecting the machine’s experimental engineering. This device, created by Swedish inventors Georg and Edvard Scheutz, represents one of the earliest practical attempts at automated computation.

Front cover of The Boys of New York: A Paper for Young Americans, Vol. XII, No. 611, dated April 30, 1887. The masthead features bold ornate lettering with decorative flourishes, beneath which is the lead serialized story titled The Electric Horse; or, Frank Reade Jr. and His Father in Search of the Lost Treasure of the Peruvians. The page is dominated by a large engraved illustration showing a dramatic action scene: an experimental vehicle — a carriage with mechanical design elements — speeds across a rugged pampas landscape, drawn by an electrical robot horse. Two armed figures, named Corrajo and Pomp, are seen firing rifles at a giant condor swooping low across the sky. The immense bird spreads its wings menacingly, dwarfing the mountains in the background. Below the image, a caption reads: “The Electric Horse was dashing away in pursuit of the condor, which flew along the pampas skirting the wood. The sides of the deck were lowered, and Corrajo and Pomp seized their rifles, and dropping each on one knee, leveled their weapons, and breathlessly waited to get a shot at the condor.” The bottom of the page continues the text of the serialized adventure.

Front page of Street & Smith’s Literary Album, Vol. II, No. 41, dated September 29, 1866. The masthead is ornate, with decorative lettering and flourishes. Below the title, the featured article is titled A Banquet with the Dead. The page includes a large engraved illustration: a group of men in dark robes sit around a banquet table covered with food, cups, and pitchers. One man, standing at the right, looks shocked as he glances at the other guests, who are all depicted with hollow-eyed, corpse-like faces. The caption beneath the illustration reads: “A Banquet with the Dead—He glanced at the company—they were all robed in deep black.” The scene conveys a macabre, gothic atmosphere typical of mid-19th-century serialized fiction.

Cover of Batman #47, published by DC Comics in June–July 1948. The bright yellow background features Batman looming in silhouette behind a young Bruce Wayne, who sits at a desk looking despondent. On the desk is a newspaper with the headline “Socialite Thomas Wayne Slain by Mystery Killer.” Above Bruce, the Bat-Signal shines while the Batplane and Batmobile race across the cover. The text highlights the issue as a “Special! The peril-packed inside story of The Origin of Batman!” This issue is notable for providing an expanded version Batman’s origin story, cementing details such as Joe Chill's murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Front cover of Happy Days: A Paper for Young and Old, Vol. XVIII, No. 453, dated June 20, 1903. The featured story is “Jack Wright’s ‘Sky-Scraper’; or, After the Lost Balloonists” by “Noname.” The central illustration depicts an early science-fiction adventure scene: Jack Wright’s large experimental aircraft, resembling a hybrid between an airplane and an airship with propellers and box-like wings, flies through a canyon. Below, armed riders on horseback confront men near a rocky cliff and cave dwellings, suggesting a dramatic encounter. An inset illustration at the bottom left shows “Fritz Wounded,” a man collapsing while another rushes to his side outside a rustic building. The overall layout blends technological imagination with dime novel adventure style.

Front page of New York Weekly, November 23, 1874, featuring the serialized story “Mezzoni the Brigand; or, King of the Mountains” by Lieutenant Murray. The illustration shows Mezzoni, a rugged brigand standing confidently against a rock backdrop in a mountainous setting. He wears rustic clothing with a wide-brimmed hat, cloak, and sandals laced up his legs. He holds a pistol in his right hand, while his left hand rests casually on a long rifle. His thick beard and resolute expression convey authority and defiance, underscoring his role as a romanticized outlaw leader in the serialized tale.

An illustration from The National Police Gazette (July 14, 1893) shows a dramatic scene at a spiritualist séance in Buffalo, New York. A determined woman, identified as Mrs. J.P. Lyle, lunges forward to seize what appears to be a ghostly female spirit. The “spirit” is depicted as a pale, translucent figure with flowing hair and a vacant expression, wearing a light gown. Mrs. Lyle, with her hair tied back and dressed in a darker outfit, grabs at the figure’s neck and shoulder as if attempting to reveal it as a fraud. The caption beneath reads: “She Seized the Spirit. The thrilling experience of Mrs. J.P. Lyle at a spiritualistic séance in Buffalo, N.Y., recently.”

1882 Police Gazette illustration titled “The Ghost of the Mine.” In a dark wooded setting, a group of armed rough-looking men with rifles and wide-brimmed hats stop in alarm as they encounter a ghostly apparition. The specter is the translucent figure of a miner with a beard and wide-brimmed hat, arms folded across his chest, glowing eerily at the entrance of a mine. One of the frightened intruders recoils in terror while others stare in shock. The caption reads: “The spectre of a wealthy miner murdered at Fryer’s Hill, Colo., scares off a rough party who seize the property.”

Cover of Marvel Stories pulp magazine, November 1940 issue. Bold yellow title “Marvel” dominates the top, with “Fiction That Thrills” beneath it. The main art shows a pilot or equipment operator and a woman in a red dress, looking terrified, held by purple alien soldiers who approach from behind via a circular portal. The left side banner advertises stories inside, including “Queen of Venus” by John Russell Fearn and “The Man Who” by A. Fedor and Henry Hasse.

Watchman recoils in fear as three ghostly figures appear, lantern light casting shadows in the Bowery. The apparitions include a costumed man and two women, rendered as faint, translucent outlines. Caption: “Spooks in the Old Bowery. A German night watchman, in the Old Drury, in New York, verifies an old legend by detecting Tom Hamblin and his company engaged in a rehearsal in the small hours of the night.”