Esther; A Story of the Oregon Trail. by Mrs Ann S STEPHENS - 1863

New York.: Beadle & Company., 1863. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. No 45 in the "Dime Novel Series". 128 pages, with original orange colour printed wrappers. edges curled slightly, very slight edge loss at bottom corner. Full page woodcut frontispiece and title page browned. spotting within the text areas throughout, but not very severe. Split started along spine edge, but all complete, nothing missing. AN excellent copy. Date 1861 on the reverse of the title page and 1863 on the base of the inner front page advert. (This advertises Number 52. Again a different number to the adverts in the previous listings? as the book is still Warren St John "Single Eye". These will all be printers anomalies and warrant further research. the back lists up to number 50 in the series as do the previous listed titles.) Notes* Ann S. Stephens 1810-1886. The term "dime novel" originated with Stephens' Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter, printed in the first book in Beadle & Adams': Beadle's Dime Novels series, dated June 9, 1860. The novel was a reprint of Stephens' earlier serial that appeared in the Ladies' Companion magazine in February, March, and April 1839. Later the Grolier Club listed Malaeska as the most influential book of 1860.