David Spilman Fine Books

Young Klondike: Stories of a Gold Seeker; Young Klondike -or- Off for the Land of Gold [Dime Novel Club reprint of original No. 1 March 16, 1898] [Illustration by Albert Berghaus]

By an Old Miner [Francis W Doughty]

New York: Charles Bragin [Frank Tousey, original publisher], 1945. Good. Reprint. Albert Berghaus. [11.5x8in] 32 pp.; Paper cover with red, black and yellow lettering on front cover, color illustrations of sledging in the snow with four portrait insets, publisher advertisement on back cover with black lettering, two staple binding; Aged toned paper with chips along edges, cover starting to separate, edges darken with aged and fragile, black ink stamp of "DIME NOVEL CLUB, Brooklyn 4 N. Y. Facsimile Reprint No. 21" on lower back corner, lacking Dime Novel Club printed white card stock wrappers. CS. Item #14088

The 'Young Klondike: Stories of a Gold Seeker' was serial periodical of fictional stories under a pseudonyms by Francis W. Doughty (1850-1917). Doughty was a playwright and novelist of books and the serial stories of the west, crime and adventure for young readers. Frank Tousey (1853-1902) was a long time publisher of periodic serial stories on inexpensive paper for juveniles. He was one of the first publisher to issue a 'dime novels' and comic periodicals in the 1870-80's. The Young Klondike publication likely rushed to take advantage of the Klondike/Alaska Gold discoveries and the ensuing stampede to the North. The weekly or semimonthly publication ran from March 1898 to May 1899 with 39 only issues, making it one of the smaller publication runs of Dime Novels. The fictional accounts of adventure and gold mining were sure to have inspired many to head for the Yukon. It is doubtful that Doughty had first hand experience in the Yukon to write his stories.

The advertisement on the back cover of this first issue reflects the excitement of the gold rush and ties to the second issue that continues the story of adventure in the Klondike. In the first issue, "KLONDIKE! KLONDIKE! This is our latest library. ... Every Story Complete and Based on Facts. Valuable and useful information woven into tales of wonderful adventures." Further, in the second issue closing, "Thus the adventures of our two New York boys in the great Yukon gold fields happily ended in wealth and prosperity. Good hard work, pluck and perseverance did it. And let us hope that many a brave boy now working for wealth in the gold fields of Alaska will meet with as good success as Young Klondike."

Frank Tousey hired Albert Berghaus (- -) to illustrate the Young Klondike. Berghaus was a well known perodical illustrator in the 1850's to 1880's. In his later years, he was hired to illustrate Dime Novels and other periodicals. His original work is scarce, with most held by insitutions and the Smithsonian.

In the late 1940's collecting the 19th and early 20th century dime novels became popular, and a market developed for reprints. Charles Bragin (1891-1974) was a long time dime novel collector, and created the Dime Novel Club to publish reprints and sell by subscription to the other collectors. Since the original publication was printed on inexpensive newsprint type paper, many did not survive the rough handling or exposure to the elements. The reprints became popular with collectors and, now many are in university library special collections.

This item was from the library of Dr. G. Warren Smith (1941-2021) of Pennsylvania. He had a long career as university professor and administrator, and was a collector of over 6,000 books, maps, illustrations, and artifacts relating to the Arctic, Alaska and Pacific Northwest.

Price: $75.00