We present to your attention one of the most popular novels of the 19th century—the one that sparked a craze for the criminal-sensational genre of mass literature, also known as “penny dreadfuls,”—“The Mysteries of Paris,” a novel translated into all European languages.
Eugène Sue’s adventurous “city mysteries” were published with continuations from June 19, 1842, to October 15, 1843, and led to the appearance of more than forty imitations around the world.
In the “sewer,” the criminal underbelly of Paris, a noble strongman appears—Rodolphe, masterfully skilled in good manners, criminal slang, and the techniques of French boxing.
Passing himself off now as a worker, now as a traveling salesman, he penetrates the secrets of the “outcasts” and helps them get out of seemingly hopeless situations…