| |
The Merriwell Series No. 136,
"Dick Merriwell's Dare" by Burt L.
Standish, was first published in 1906
by Street & Smith. The cover
illustrates an Umpire and a catcher
wearing reeded shin guards, suggesting
that this copy was issued at a later
date.
Shin guards were devised in 1907 by
Hall of Fame Catcher Roger Bresnahan.
By 1909 the design was refined, and
became accepted, and more wildly used.
The Merriwell Series of books were
always in print, and the original cover
was updated with a more modern look.
The Merriwell Series of Dime Novels was published by Street & Smith from
1896 through 1930. The stories about
Frank, and Dick Merriwell, were Witten
by Gilbert Patten, who wrote under the
pseudonym Burt L. Standish. Gilbert
wrote
209 dime novels between 1896 and 1930.
Some novels between 1927 and 1930 were written by
other authors using the same pen name,
Burt L. Standish. Twenty-eight of them reprinted as hard covers
'The Merriwell Series surround the sporting adventures of fictional
characters Dick and Frank Merriwell.
Tip Top Weekly magazine, also published
by Street & Smith from 1896 through
1912 ("New Tip Top Weekly" until 1915) was edited by Frederick Tilney and Gilbert Patten, also under
the pen name Burt L. Standish.
Tip Top Weekly and the Merriwell series featured stories of the adventures
of Dick & Frank Merriwell, cover a wide
range of sports that includes: Ranch &
Rodeo, Fencing, Track & Field,
Gymnastics, Boxing, Football, Hockey
and Baseball. They did it all.
William Gilbert Patten is the last
and greatest figure in the history of
the dime novel. Representing, as he
does, the transition of the dime novel
writer to the field of the pulp paper
magazines, he is the fitting climax to
a period of prolific fictioneering
unparal leled in the history of
literature in any time or place.
|
|
