SWEENEY TODD The String of Pearls: The Original Victorian Classic (Dover Horror Classics) - Softcover

Rymer, James Malcolm; Prest, Thomas Peckett

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486797392 ISBN 13: 9780486797397

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2015

Synopsis

In the early years of the Victorian age, a newly literate class of readers turned to "penny dreadfuls" for escapist fun. Blood-curdling tales, published in installments and costing only a penny, offered gripping episodes of romance, mystery, and horror. The notorious penny dreadful Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls recounts a young woman's desperate search for her missing sailor sweetheart―a quest that ends in a Fleet Street barber shop, where the proprietor has an unsavory connection with a local baker and the secret ingredient to her delicious meat pies.
Authorship of this tale, which was printed anonymously in 1846-47 in eighteen weekly installments, remains in doubt. The story's serial publication ensured an abundance of cliffhangers, and its dark humor made it an especially appealing source for the long-running Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A delight for fans of the modern play, this gripping yarn remains a treat for readers of Victorian mysteries.

About this title

About the Author:

The authorship is a bit of a mystery. Thomas Peckett Prest was known as the "king of the bloods," although many scholars attribute the story to James Malcolm Rymer, an equally famous writer of penny dreadfuls.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0486797392
• ISBN 13: 9780486797397
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304