A Database of Cheap Literature, 1837-1860

Browse Named Authors

Most penny bloods were not merely pseudonymous, but more plainly anonymous. They are identified as "By the author of". The corpus of Thomas Peckett Prest and James Malcolm Rymer has thus been reconstructed by Helen R. Smith in New Light on Sweeney Todd, Thomas Peckett Prest, James Malcolm Rymer and Elizabeth Caroline Grey.1 However, in many cases, the author (or translator or adaptor) remains unknown.

Penny authors
British - French - American authors
Authors of other or unknown nationality
Composers - Artists

Here is a list of named penny authors:

Gilbert Abbott À Beckett David Mitchell Aird Gabriel Alexander
Thomas Archer Richard Bedingfield Mary Ann Bird
Edward Litt Leman Blanchard Henry George Brooks Edwina Jane Burbury
A. C. Clara de Chatelain Henry Cockton
James Moutrie O'Neale Cooke H. J. Copson Julia Corner
Fawcett Dawson Paul Eaton Pierce Egan (1772-1849)
Pierce Egan (1814-1880) Albany William Fonblanque Henry Foster
Thomas Frost Francis Glasse William Thomas Haley
John Heather Henry Hewitt William Heard Hillyard
Ebenezer Edward Peron Hingston Ambrose Hudson Robert Huish
Stephen Carr Clarke Hunt William Hurton Joseph Charles James
Hannah Maria Jones Miles Gerald Keon Frances Isabella Staveley Berkeley Wood Kortright
F. Y. B. L. James Lindridge Annette Marie Maillard
Henry Downes Miles Thomas Miller J. H. Newton
Renton Nicholson Francis O'Sulivan Samuel Phelps
Paul Pimlico George Dibdin Pitt Marguerite Agnes Power
Gioacchino Prati Thomas Peckett Prest Charles Reade
George William MacArthur Reynolds Edwin Franklin Roberts James Robertson
Emma Robinson John Wilson Ross James Malcolm Rymer
John Taylor Sinnett John Frederick Smith Harriette Maria Gordon Smythies
Walter Somers Alexander Somerville Bayle Frederick St John
Percy Bolingbroke St John R. J. Stapleton Joachim Hayward Stocqueler
Felix Stowe Oliver Sullivan Sarah Symonds
J. Herbert Thornley Annie Tinsley Ellen T—
George Marcus Viner Thomas Egerton Wilks

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Other British authors found their works reprinted, plagiarised, retold, or adapted from the stage as penny bloods. The following list also contains the few dramatists who adapted penny bloods for the stage:

William Harrison Ainsworth George Almar William Anderson
Samuel Atkyns John Banim Matthew Henry Barker
Mary Bennett William Bayle Bernard W. Bertin
Adelaide Helen Biddles George Henry Borrow Dion Boucicault
Mary Brunton John Baldwin Buckstone Selina Bunbury
Alfred Bunn George Gordon Noel Byron Charles Alexander Calvert
Andrew Leonard Voullaire Campbell William Clarke John Close
Eliza Cook Joseph Stirling Coyne John Cartwright Cross
Catherine Ann Crowe Catherine Cuthbertson Selina Davenport
Mary Ann Denvil Charles Dibdin Charles Dickens
Joseph Ebsworth James W. Elphinstone Edward William Elton
John Fawcett Edward Fitzball Marguerite Gardiner
Thomas Gaspey John Gay George Robert Gleig
William Godwin Oliver Goldsmith Catherine Grace Frances Gore
Henry Plunkett Grattan John Thomas Haines Anna Maria Hall
Martha Harley John Hawkesworth Colin Henry Hazlewood
Elizabeth Helme Richard Holcraft George Payne Rainsford James
Charles Jefferys Douglas William Jerrold Wilhelmina Johnson
C. M. Johnston John Beer Johnstone Ernest Charles Jones
Isabella Kelly Mary Kentish James Sheridan Knowles
John Langhorne Francis Lathom Sophia Priscilla Lee
(Richard) Nelson Lee Harriet Lee Mark Lemon
Matthew Gregory Lewis George Lillo George Linley
George William Lovell Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer Henry Mackenzie
William Charles Macready John Malcolm Charles W. Manby
Frederick Marchant Frederick Marryat Charles James Mathews
Thomas Moore John Mordaunt Edward Mortimer
Frederick Neale William Johnstoune Nelson Neale John Oxenford
John Parry Thomas Parry Richard Brinsley Peake
James Robinson Planché Isaac Innes Pocock Elizabeth Polack
Jane Porter Anna Maria Porter Ann Radcliffe
Angus Bethune Reach William Leman Rede Clara Reeve
Susannah Frances Reynolds Thomas Herbert Reynoldson Samuel Richardson
Joseph Philip Robson Regina Maria Roche William Rogers
William Gribbon Ross Samuel William Ryley John Faucit Saville
Walter Scott William Seaman Charles Selby
Thomas James Serle Frances Sheridan Albert Richard Smith
Charlotte Smith Tobias George Smollett George Soane
Charles Alfred Somerset Robert Southey Louisa Sidney Stanhope
George Stephens Edward Stirling Joseph Strutt
William E. Suter Thomas Noon Talfourd William Taylor
Frances Trollope Horace Walpole Catherine George Ward
Samuel Warren James White Thomas Henry White
Charles Whitehead Harriette Wilson Mary Julia Young
H. Young

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French authors' works were massively translated, mostly taken from the stage or from the newspapers' romans-feuilletons:

Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois Auguste Jean-François Arnould Louis Alexandre Bailly
Honoré de Balzac Pierre Laurent de Belloy Charles de Bernard
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre Élie Berthet Jacques Étienne Adolphe Chenu
Eugène Cormon Sophie Cottin Adolphe d'Ennery
Casimir Delavigne Hippolyte-Jules Demolière Adelbert Doisy
Victor Henri-Joseph Brahain Ducange François Guillaume Ducray-Duminil Philippe-François Pinel Dumanoir
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) Alexandre Dumas (1824-1895) Charles Désiré Dupeuty
Paul Duport Émile Dupré de Saint-Maure François de Fénelon
Octave Feuillet Paul Féval Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Narcisse Fournier Emmanuel Gonzalès Léon Gozlan
Eugène Grangé Alexandre Guiraud Louis Adrien Huart
Victor Hugo Jules Janin Paul de Kock
Marie Lafarge Alphonse de Lamartine Alexandre de Lavergne
Alain René Le Sage Auguste Maquet Jean-François Marmontel
Xavier de Montépin Paul de Musset Charles Philipon
Philippe-Auguste Pittaud de Forges René-Charles Guilbert de Pixerécourt Antoine François Prévost
Charles Félix Henri Rabou Fanny Reybaud Clémence Robert
Alphonse Royer George Sand Eugène Scribe
Michel-Jean Sedaine Frédéric Soulié Émile Souvestre
Victorine Subervick Eugène Sue Louis-Élisabeth de La Vergne Tressan
François-Eugène Vidocq

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American authors' works were frequently reprinted as part of the two-way transatlantic piracy regime which lasted throughout the nineteenth century. Also included in this list are lyricists whose songs offered inspiration for "original" bloods:

Timothy Shay Arthur Maturin Murray Ballou Benjamin Barker
Emerson Bennett Robert Montgomery Bird Osgood Bradbury
Charles Brockden Brown Oliver Bell Bunce Henry P. Cheever
Harriet Vaughan Cheney Reynell Coates Sylvanus Cobb
James Fenimore Cooper Maria Susanna Cummins Harriot Flora Curtis
Richard Henry Jr Dana Henry Champion Deming Eliza Ann Dupuy
Thomas Dunn English Genevieve Genevra Fairfield Theodore Sedgwick Fay
Timothy Flint Nathaniel Greene Sarah Josepha Buell Hale
Dennis Hannigan Alice Bradley Haven Gustaf Clemens Hebbe
Caroline Lee Hentz Henry William Herbert Richard Hildreth
Joseph Holt Ingraham Justin Jones Edward Zane Carroll Judson
John Pendleton Kennedy Caroline Matilda Kirkland Mary Langdon
Charles Edwards Lester George Lippard Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
James A. Maitland John Henry Mancur John Alexander McClung
Maria Jane McIntosh Edward Joy Morris John Neal
P. O'Shaugnessey James Kirke Paulding John Howard Payne
Eugene Plunkett Edgar Allan Poe Augustus Julian Requier
James Sanford Catharine Maria Sedgwick Susan Anne Ridley Sedgwick
Tom Shortfellow William Gilmore Simms Anna Lowell Snelling
Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth Ann Sophia Stephens Harriet Beecher Stowe
M. L. Sweetser Daniel Pierce Thompson Virginia Frances Townsend
Thomas Tracy Henry Theodore Tuckerman Calvin Henderson Wiley
Sarah Payson Willis John R. Willis Henry Augustus Wise

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A few works adapted or translated works come from authors of other nationalities:

Johann Baptist von Alxinger Erik Julius Björner Benvenuto Cellini
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Manuel Galo de Cuendías Massimo d'Azeglio
Emilie Flygare-Carlén Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
Friedrich Kind Giovanni La Cecilia August Friedrich Ernst Langbein
Theodor Mügge Carl Anton Postl Friedrich Wilhelm Riese
Emanuel Schikaneder Friedrich Schiller Karl Spindler
Carl Franz van der Velde Christoph Martin Wieland Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke

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Operas, melodramas, and songs were adapted into penny bloods. Here are some of their composers:

Julius Benedict Charles William Glover André Grétry
Nelson Kneass Edward James Loder Johann Christoph Pepusch
George Herbert Bonaparte Rodwell Henry Russell Friedrich von Flotow
Carl Maria von Weber

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A couple of penny bloods were inspired by engravings. Here are some of the artists:

George Cruikshank William Hogarth

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Finally, some adapted works orginated from named authors of which the nationality remains unknown:

Charles Zachary Barnett Thomas Bingley Thomas G. Blake
John Courtney William B. English T. H. Fenton
Joseph Graves Helen Harkness James Mackay
Edward Montague Barnabas F. Rayner Euphemia Geraldine Walker

1 For an updated account of Elizabeth Caroline Grey, check Patrick Spedding's article "The Many Mrs Grey: Confusion and Lies about Elizabeth Caroline Grey, Catherine Maria Grey, Maria Georgina Grey and Others" published in September 2010 in PBSA (volume 104:3). John Adcock gives a preview of his findings in his post "The Elizabeth Caroline Grey Hoax" on his blog Yesterday's Papers.