On Aug. 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, were hacked to death with an ax. Suspicion centered on Lizzie, Andrew's daughter. She was acquitted but remained popularly condemned. The case inspired popular rhymes and several paperback novels.
Kathleen Chamberlain, an associate professor of English at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Va., said she read so many books about the case from her junior high school library that the librarian refused to let her borrow any more, saying that they were morbid. "Lizzie Borden had become a commodity, with marketable potential," said Ms. Chamberlain.
She was among the scholars and librarians who gathered at the Library on June 9 and 10 for "Pioneers, Passionate Ladies and Private Eyes: The Library of Congress Symposium on Dime Novels, Series Books and Paperbacks."
"In 1870 the Library became the location for Copyright deposits. This led to a huge increase in the Library's Americana holdings," said John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book, which cosponsored the symposium with the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Larry Sullivan, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, said that the Library has more than 30,000 dime novels and a complete archives of Dell paperbacks.
"We are one of the few research libraries that systematically collects paperback fiction, primary sources for the study of American culture and society," he said.
Clark Evans, senior reference specialist in the division, presented a paper on "Popular Culture Collections at the Library of Congress." Mr. Evans discussed the acquisition and historical development of the Library's holdings of dime novels, paperbacks, pulp magazines and comic books. He noted the contributions made by V. Valta Parma, was the first curator of the Rare Book Reading Room, from 1927 to 1939.
Among other speakers, Elizabeth Frank, curator of large mammals at the Milwaukee County Zoo, said the 1916 Conquest of the United States series, comprising four novels by H. Irving Hancock, graphically detailed a fictional invasion of the United States by Germany and subsequent trench warfare in New England, Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Ms. Frank argued that the books contained all the theses of the war-preparedness movement, whose goal was to beef up American defense during World War I.
Antiquarian book dealers Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine B. Stern of Rostenberg and Stern Rare Books spoke about Louisa May Alcott. Describing herself as "the little grandmother of the Alcott revolution," Ms. Rostenberg said that some 50 years ago she discovered that Louisa May Alcott had produced less respectable though lucrative pulp fiction under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard. Ms. Stern noted that Alcott's popular stories and novels dealt with such matters as hashish experimentation, satanic worship and hereditary insanity.
"Hereditary insanity was one of Alcott's favorite themes," said Ms. Stern, "and a well-suited one for the dime novel."
Lydia C. Schurman, professor emerita at Northern Virginia Community College, spoke about "post office novels," which were pirated, printed in newspaper format and mailed to subscribers at periodical rates, eight times cheaper than book rates. Titles included A Tale of Two Cities, Anna Karenina and The Count of Monte Christo, which were not protected by American copyright laws.
E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra, a writer and historian, noted that Dickens was astounded to discover, during his first visit to America in the 1840s, that the American market was flooded with unauthorized editions of his novels. "For the next three decades he campaigned tirelessly for international copyright laws, though he died a full 20 years before one was passed," he said.
Alan Pickrell, professor of English at Emory and Henry College, spoke about L. Frank Baum's Oz series. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) contained feminist elements, surprising for a novel of its time, he said. Witches, both good and evil, ruled the imaginary landscape. The wizard, by contrast, had no real power. Dorothy, not the wizard, overcame the power of the wicked witch. Other books in the series portrayed an entirely female army.
Similarly, the Nancy Drew series depicted women who were strong, intelligent and independent. Nancy Tillman Romalov, a visiting professor at the University of Montana, spoke about the series and the fierce loyalty it inspired in its readers, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said in a letter to Ms. Romalov that reading Nancy Drew inspired her to pursue a legal career.
Angela Farkas, a teaching fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, described the 19th century novel The Bride of the Tomb, which dealt with the theme of being buried alive, not an uncommon occurrence during that era. The heroine of book was buried alive, retrieved and kept prisoner in a monastery. She was then committed to an insane asylum, ultimately rescued and free to marry her true love, Lancelot Darling.
"The novel is a narrative of female suffering," said Ms. Farkas. "The woman character is the daughter of a wealthy banker, and the reader is obviously meant to sympathize with her. Though seemingly nothing more than an escapist novel, it reflected realities of 19th century life."
Dr. Sullivan and Lydia Schurman, an independent scholar who helped organize the symposium, will edit the symposium proceedings for publication by the Haworth Press. The book is scheduled to appear in 1996.
