Erastus Beadle
Encouraged by the popularity of dime novels among American readers, publisher Erastus Beadle began targeting English audiences in the early 1860s. In February of 1861, the first reprint of Beadle's American Library was published in London, followed in 1862 by the opening of a Beadle London office. All told, Beadle published some sixty English reprints, the last appearing in 1866, after which time the publishing rights were sold to Routledge.
Beadle's publications carried the addresses of both his American and English offices. Most of the novels were reprinted from the American plates in Britain and show slight variations in type, indicating new type setting. As Beadle had hoped, the English reprints found a ready market and achieved an enormous circulation. The English counterpart of American dime novels became popularly known as "shilling shockers" and "penny dreadfuls."