The DEAD LETTER [as Serialized in] BEADLE's MONTHLY, A Magazine of To-Day, Vol I ONLY [January to June] by Regester, Seeley [pseudonymn of Mrs. Metta Victoria Fuller Victor ] - 1866

New York: Beadle and Company, 1866. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good. First Edition. IV, [5]-576 pages. 8vo. Publisher's brick colored cloth. Stain at base affecting all three panels. Christmas 1866 gift inscription on front flyleaf. Cloth. Contains the first six parts ONLY of the Dead Letter, an important serial mystery, found on pages 8, 105, 212, 309, 399, and 501. Here bound in the publisher's cloth binding, with each month's front page included but lacking (we presume) individual wrappers for the issues, and with the addition of a volume title and contents page. Additional parts of the story were serialized in subsequent volumes."One of her most important contributions to American literature was The Dead Letter, published in 1864 under the pen name Seeley Register, and credited as the first detective novel. Her later years were devoted to humor and sensational romances." (American Women's Dime Novel Project)The American Women's Dime Novel Project notes other pseudonyms of Mrs. Victor, several of which also appear in this bound volume. We note "First and Last, A Love Story" by Rose Kennedy, "Moonlight, A Poem" and "Under a Shadow, A Story" by Mrs. M. V. Victor, "Learning to Skate. A Story" and "Who Stole the Spoons, A New Year's Day Episode" by Mrs. Mark Peabody.While this might seem like a lot of exposure in six months for a single writer, it should be noted that Beadle and Company, the publisher, was a new venture by Metta Victor's husband and editor Orville J. Victor. Even so, the years have shown that Metta Victor was not only a good writer, but an important one in American fiction.