Teaching Penny Bloods and Dreadfuls

Abstract

Illustrated “penny bloods” and “penny dreadfuls” such as Varney the Vampire and The String of Pearls (“Sweeney Todd”) are generally absent from the curriculum. Mostly out of print and not accessible in circulating libraries, they are rarely clarified by scholarly editions. However, in the Victorian era, these genres accrued vast reading audiences, eclipsing those of many canonical works. This chapter presents ideas for a course called “Literary Topics: The Digital Humanities and Sweeney Todd” that introduces students to Victorian penny fiction and its historical contexts as part of the history of the book from the nineteenth century through the digital revolution. Digital archives allow contemporary readers to access bloods and dreadfuls. By analyzing these copies and annotating chapters of the 700-page 1850 edition of The String of Pearls, students explore the genre and its cultural impact while contextualizing the enduring Sweeney Todd myth for a public audience akin, in some ways, to the one it initially captivated.

I thank the student editors of The String of Pearls for their original research, hard work, and great insight. Particular thanks are due to technical editors Sarah Miles and Matt McAnelly and to Emily Harwood. I am also grateful to the Department of Humanistic Studies and Academic Technical Services (ATS) for essential material support and IT assistance and to the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, for a scholarship to the 2015 summer course Conceptualising and Creating a Digital Documentary Edition.