The Mysteries of London Vol 1 of 4

George W. M. Reynolds

Summary

The Mysteries of London is a penny dreadful or city mysteries novel begun by George W. M. Reynolds in 1844. Reynolds wrote the first two series of this long-running narrative of life in the seedy underbelly of mid-nineteenth-century London. Thomas Miller wrote the third series and Edward L. Blanchard wrote the fourth series of this immensely popular title. Michael Angelo in Penny Dreadfuls and Other Victorian Horrors writes: Reynolds had read Eugene Sue while in Paris and was particularly impressed by his novel Les Mystères de Paris (The Mysteries of Paris). It inspired Reynolds to write and publish a penny part serial The Mysteries of London (1845), in which he paralleled Sue's tale of vice, depravity, and squalor in the Parisian slums with a sociological story contrasting the vice and degradation of London working-class life with the luxury and debaucheries of the hedonistic upper crust. An early socialist and a Chartist sympathizer, Reynolds had a genuine social conscience, and he contrived to stitch into the pages of his books diatribes against social evils and class inequities. (79) Instalments were published weekly and contained a single illustration and eight pages of text printed in double columns. The weekly numbers were later bound in cloth covers with a fresh title page and table of contents and offered as complete works of fiction. After Reynolds quit The Mysteries of London, he began a new title: The Mysteries of the Court of London, which ran from 1848 until 1856.

Available since: 03/06/2017.

Print length: 800 pages.

Other books that might interest you

The Raven and Other Poems

Edgar Allan Poe

When a modern film script draws inspiration from a poem written more than a century ago, readers can judge its impact on our collective imagination. Such is the resonance of the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.First published in 1845, "The Raven" is a masterpiece of atmosphere, rhythmic quality and use of language. Constructed in narrative form, it tells the story of a young man who is mourning the loss of his beloved. One December night as he wearily sits up browsing through a classical volume, a mysterious tapping against his window disturbs him. When he opens it to investigate, a strange and mournful raven enters his room and perches on the bust of a Greek goddess inside. The rest of the poem deals with the melancholy and mournful one-sided conversation between the two. The narrator desperately questions the Raven about Lenore, his lost love, but the Raven only gives a single dismal word "Nevermore" in reply. What happens to the narrator in the course of this conversation makes up the rest of the poem.Beside The Raven, there are Alone; A Dream Within A Dream; Annabel Lee; City In the Sea; The Bells; A Dream Within a Dream; Annabel Lee; Dreamland; Evening Star; Lenore; Eldorado; A Valentine and "The Happiest Day".

Show book

The Other Side

Count Eric Stanislaus Stenbock

In the macabre tale The Other Side, Stenbock explores the werewolf theme in the sinister setting of a village on the edge of a stream. On the side where the village is, everything is peaceful and pleasant. But on the other side, where the forest is, there are werewolves, witches and other sinister beings.When the young boy Gabriel is tempted to cross the brook to pick a beautiful and mysterious blue flower, he finds himself in a beautiful but terrible nightmare in which he is in the thrall of werewolves and other mysterious inhuman beings.Count Eric Stenislaus Stenbock (1860-1895) was an aristocrat of German-Estonian origin who lived in England. He wrote weird, macabre fantasy fiction and was a favorite of H. P. Lovecraft. He was well known for his eccentric lifestyle, keeping snakes, salamanders and toads in his bedroom, and owned a bear, a reindeer and a fox. He had a life-size doll with him at all times which he claimed was his son.

Show book

A Barrel Full of Short Stories -...

Joe Nuckols

Sometimes a wife or husband can tell a story that shocks their partner, or just amuse them with fantasies. For romance, couples that have a happy marriage have an advantage as shared memories, experiences, and secrets set the stage for more fun. 
Discover what an adventurous couple can do in this new short story collection, A Barrel Full of Short Stories. Twenty-six short stories offer snapshots of life as it is, and life as it can be. Old photographs and memorabilia collected over centuries hide observations and secrets. Can we reveal them? That’s what we will try to find out. James and Linda Tucker take on a challenge to find inspiration at Cracker Barrel restaurants across the country. Their later-in-life romance stories of unfold from their imagination inspired by the collections displayed and from the people they see come and go. 
Find out what prostitutes, preachers, and everyday people have to say about life as it is, and what it can be for you in this collection of short stories and personal essays A Barrel Full of Short Stories: Twenty-six Short Stories: Snapshots of Life as It Is, and Life as It Can Be

Show book

The Short Stories of Edgar...

Edgar Wallace

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on the 1st April 1875 in Greenwich, London. Leaving school at 12 because of truancy, by the age of fifteen he had experience; selling newspapers, as a worker in a rubber factory, as a shoe shop assistant, as a milk delivery boy and as a ship’s cook.
By 1894 he was engaged but broke it off to join the Infantry being posted to South Africa. He also changed his name to Edgar Wallace which he took from Lew Wallace, the author of Ben-Hur.
In Cape Town in 1898 he met Rudyard Kipling and was inspired to begin writing. His first collection of ballads, The Mission that Failed! was enough of a success that in 1899 he paid his way out of the armed forces in order to turn to writing full time.By 1904 he had completed his first thriller, The Four Just Men. Since nobody would publish it he resorted to setting up his own publishing company which he called Tallis Press.
In 1911 his Congolese stories were published in a collection called Sanders of the River, which became a bestseller. He also started his own racing papers, Bibury’s and R. E. Walton’s Weekly, eventually buying his own racehorses and losing thousands gambling. A life of exceptionally high income was also mirrored with exceptionally large spending and debts.
Wallace now began to take his career as a fiction writer more seriously, signing with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921. He was marketed as the ‘King of Thrillers’ and they gave him the trademark image of a trilby, a cigarette holder and a yellow Rolls Royce. He was truly prolific, capable not only of producing a 70,000 word novel in three days but of doing three novels in a row in such a manner. It was estimated that by 1928 one in four books being read was written by Wallace, for alongside his famous thrillers he wrote variously in other genres, including science fiction, non-fiction accounts of WWI which amounted to ten volumes and screen plays. Eventually he would reach the remarkable total of 170 novels, 18 stage plays and 957 short stories.
Wallace became chairman of the Press Club which to this day holds an annual Edgar Wallace Award, rewarding ‘excellence in writing’.
Diagnosed with diabetes his health deteriorated and he soon entered a coma and died of his condition and double pneumonia on the 7th of February 1932 in North Maple Drive, Beverly Hills. He was buried near his home in England at Chalklands, Bourne End, in Buckinghamshire.

This volume comes to you from Miniature Masterpieces, a specialized imprint from Deadtree Publishing. Our range is large and growing and covers single authors, themes, and many compilations.

01 - The Short Stories of Edgar Wallace - An Introduction
02 - The Devil Light by Edgar Wallace
03 - Richard Bruce - Burglar by Edgar Wallace
04 - Jam For The Enemy by Edgar Wallace
05 - The Death Room by Edgar Wallace

Show book

Abyss Below Every Floor An

A. J. Payler

Peering into another universe... what could go wrong? 
Years of research… decades of study… and it's all led up to this. The greatest moment of researcher Roland Ohtani's professional career is at hand... but even with the eyes of the world upon him and the backing of the world's most powerful billionaire, he never could have predicted the horrific truth that lies at the heart of everything. 
From A. J. Payler, author of The Killing Song, Bank Error in Your Favor, and Terror Next Door comes An Abyss Below Every Floor, a tale of the terrifying world outside your door and the darkness that awaits us all.

Show book

The Robot Date

Martin Lundqvist

After a series of horrible dating experiences, Geoffrey allows his friend Martin to register his account with the the ‘Ronrīhātsukurabu / Lonely Hearts Club dating website. To Geoffrey's surprise,he ends up dating the stunning Japanese woman Ainu. But what is wrong with Ainu and why is she attracting lightning strikes? There is only one way to find out, Listen to this story.

Show book