Book: "Penny Dreadfuls and Comics"

[stevezodiac]

Has anybody else come across this book which I found in my old bedroom having forgotten it existed? It was published by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1983. It is a squarebound softback with 128 pages and covers an exhibition of comics at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. If you are into children's nostalgia its well worth a visit.

[NP]

Yes I got it at the time but never saw the exhibit. It's a bit thin against the Penguin book of 15 years earlier.

[Lew Stringer]

Yes I got it at the time but never saw the exhibit. It's a bit thin against the Penguin book of 15 years earlier.

I bought the book from the exhibition at the time. The exhibition was very good but, as is the nature of such things, one could only see the pages of the comics/papers that were opened for display as they were inside glass cases. Still, better than nothing of course and very informative.

Pretty much everything that was in the exhibition is in the book, so you've seen it really.

[Phoenix]

Has anybody else come across this book which I found in my old bedroom having forgotten it existed?

Yes I do have a copy, but I bought it from a comic dealer a year or so after the exhibition, which unfortunately I didn't visit as somehow I never saw it advertised.

[Digifiend]

Yes I got it at the time but never saw the exhibit. It's a bit thin against the Penguin book of 15 years earlier.

I bought the book from the exhibition at the time. The exhibition was very good but, as is the nature of such things, one could only see the pages of the comics/papers that were opened for display as they were inside glass cases. Still, better than nothing of course and very informative.

Pretty much everything that was in the exhibition is in the book, so you've seen it really.

Understandable (they won't want to risk them getting damaged), but it would've been nice if they could allow visitors to read them in full on microfiche or something, like you would old newspapers at a library.

[felneymike]

I got it on Ebay for about £20 ages ago, bidding was running away so it must be fairly desirable.

I thought it'd have cover-scans of loads of publications with information about them underneath, but it wasn't quite like that. I wanted to transfer the information to my Wiki, but that never really got off the ground either (and then two other wiki's started).

It is a decent overview of British 'comics' from the 19th century to 1980's, though, even mentioning Girl's comics! But only slightly. And there is a great deal of pictures, though no stories to read.