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In 1860, the publishers Erastus and Irwin Beadle released a series of cheap paperbacks, Beadle's Dime Novels. Dime novels varied in size, even in the first Beadle series, but were mostly about 6.5 by 4.25 inches, with 100 pages. The first 28 were published without a cover illustration, in a salmon-colored paper wrapper. A woodblock print was added in issue 29, and the first 28 were reprinted with illustrated covers. The books were priced, of course, at ten cents. Most of the stories were frontier tales reprinted from the numerous serials in the story papers and other sources, but many were original stories. The books were reprinted many times, sometimes with different covers, and the stories were often further reprinted in different series and by different publishers. The literacy rate increased around the time of the American Civil War, and Beadle's Dime Novels were immediately popular among young, working-class readers.
