More than 1,500 rare chapbooks are included in this exceptional collection of 18th and 19th-century popular literature. Chapbooks offered news, entertainment and sensation through startling accounts of horrific murder, romances, garlands of popular ballads and scurrilous songs, riddles and jests.

16 reels

Part Two: The Sabine Baring-Gould and Thomas Crampton Collections from the British Library, London

A very rich source of material relating to the traditional and popular culture of the British Isles, street literature remains a vast and relatively untapped source of research material for many areas of Victorian studies, especially literature, social history and music.

7 reels

Parts Three-Ten: The Barry Ono Collection of Bloods and Penny Dreadfuls

Brought together by music-hall artist F.V. Harrisson and bequeathed to the British Library in 1946, this incomparable collection offers an enormous range of bloods, penny dreadfuls, penny issue novels and early comics, believed to be the origin of today's most popular short story, film, novel and comic jokes.

166 reels

Also available: Genre Collections

Various genres are represented throughout the collection of The Bloods and Penny Dreadfuls. Selected topics can be covered through one of these three collections.

Crime Stories
Contains stories drawn from true crimes, famous trials and the lives of famous highwaymen.
7 reels

Boys' Literature of the Day
Covers topics ranging from voyages and expeditions to comic tales told in novels, short stories, serials and poetry.
19 reels

The Women's Audience
Features topics written for women that reveal many attitudes surrounding women in the 19th century.
5 reels...