Story papers collection
This digital collection contains fully text-searchable reproductions of hundreds of titles from the story papers collection at the Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL).
Story papers were among the earliest types of serialized popular fiction to emerge in the 19th century, and were published in a large format resembling a newspaper. They predated other "dime novel" forms of inexpensive popular literature published later in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as nickel weeklies and pulp magazines, but were similar in terms of their content, often featuring sensationalized and melodramatic stories targeted toward younger audiences.
All story papers contained in this digital collection are text-searchable in their entirety. Select Browse Items on the left to view all titles contained in this digital collection, or enter specific terms in the collection search box to search for specific series, titles, or recognized text.
While extensive, this digital collection contains only a selection of titles from the BPCL's vast physical collection of story papers. All story papers from the BPCL's physical collection are discoverable via the catalog search on the BPCL's homepage, and are also available to view onsite in their original formats at the BPCL.
Relatedly, the BPCL has also made text-searchable digital reproductions of hundreds of its nickel weekly titles available in the nickel weeklies digital collection.