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Blueskin: A Romance of the Last Century
Comprising Chapters 1 to 135.
First published from 1866 in 157 weekly episodes, Blueskin is a renowned Penny Dreadful series from the author of Black Bess; Or, The Knight of the Road. The original work runs to 751 chapters and over 1250 pages. Now, the entire serial is available in true paperback form, complete with all internal illustrations, in six paperback volumes.
Note that this volume is not a complete novel—the episodic tale continues from previous volumes and into subsequent volumes in an unbroken stream, though individual exploits and adventures are resolved in each book.
Blueskin: A Romance of the Last Century tells the stylized and romanticized adventures of the early 18th century folk hero Jack Sheppard, a legendary burglar and thief famous for his daring escapes from prison, Blueskin, his friend and partner in crime, Edgworth Bess, his love, and Jonathan Wild, the notorious thief-taker general, his sworn enemy. These ventures are largely fictional, though based on real historical characters, with the heroes portrayed as heroic, honorable figures rather than actual villains. These daring adventures thrilled the youth of Victorian England. (*Note that this work contains terms and language in common use in the 19th century that some people may find offensive.)
This first volume sees Jack Sheppard fall upon hard times and join Jonathan Wild's gang of criminals. When Jack takes the side of the persecuted heiress Edgworth Bess in direct opposition to the plans of the evil thief-taker, Jonathan Wild, he and his new friend Blueskin are forced to flee for their lives. But Wild is a powerful man. He has the law on his side and a web of spies and informers covering the whole of London. Eluding his clutches and keeping Edgworth Bess safe will require all of Jack and Blueskin's resources.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact.
First published from 1866 in 157 weekly episodes, Blueskin is a renowned Penny Dreadful series from the author of Black Bess; Or, The Knight of the Road. The original work runs to 751 chapters and over 1250 pages. Now, the entire serial is available in true paperback form, complete with all internal illustrations, in six paperback volumes.
Note that this volume is not a complete novel—the episodic tale continues from previous volumes and into subsequent volumes in an unbroken stream, though individual exploits and adventures are resolved in each book.
Blueskin: A Romance of the Last Century tells the stylized and romanticized adventures of the early 18th century folk hero Jack Sheppard, a legendary burglar and thief famous for his daring escapes from prison, Blueskin, his friend and partner in crime, Edgworth Bess, his love, and Jonathan Wild, the notorious thief-taker general, his sworn enemy. These ventures are largely fictional, though based on real historical characters, with the heroes portrayed as heroic, honorable figures rather than actual villains. These daring adventures thrilled the youth of Victorian England. (*Note that this work contains terms and language in common use in the 19th century that some people may find offensive.)
This first volume sees Jack Sheppard fall upon hard times and join Jonathan Wild's gang of criminals. When Jack takes the side of the persecuted heiress Edgworth Bess in direct opposition to the plans of the evil thief-taker, Jonathan Wild, he and his new friend Blueskin are forced to flee for their lives. But Wild is a powerful man. He has the law on his side and a web of spies and informers covering the whole of London. Eluding his clutches and keeping Edgworth Bess safe will require all of Jack and Blueskin's resources.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact.
654 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1866
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November 12, 2021
Author Edward Viles referred to “Blueskin” as a “companion piece” to (in the pages of) his sprawling penny dreadful, “Black Bess, a Knight of the Road”. There are no characters in common, but it portrays the highly fictionalized adventures of another early 1700s criminal. Joseph “Blueskin” Blake is our title character, but the real hero role is given to his companion Jack Sheppard, a lovable rogue who actually managed to escape from Newgate prison four times. History also provides these two with a real villain, the “thief taker” Jonathan Wild, who kept all theft in London organized under his control while he publicly played the part of a heroic policeman of sorts.
Also like in Viles' work “Black Bess”, this is a very long and repetitive adventure!
We meet Jack Sheppard shouting at the house of John Roots, a carpenter he was apprenticed to until he was turned out. Roots accused Sheppard of a theft he hadn't committed and “set him on the road to crime”. Shortly thereafter, Sheppard ends up in a bar where Blueskin is the center of attention and the two wind up as fast friends. Blueskin had a history with Sheppard's father, who died by hanging at Tyburn. Blueskin is also the second in command to Jonathan Wild, and so Sheppard also ends up in Wild's service.
It's about here that we get an heiress who was cheated out of her inheritance and is now the target for villains who fear she will claim her rights. I'm pretty sure she's an invention of Viles, this being “Edgeworth Bess” (what is it with Viles and the name “Bess”?), and she becomes the love interest of Sheppard, the charge of Blueskin, and the target of Jonathan Wild, who wants her property so he can obtain a title and become a proper “gentleman”.
In many ways this is a better matured work and more cohesive than “Black Bess”, but the fact that this is built to include Jack Sheppard's numerous prison breaks means that, every time our heroes escape from Wild or the police, they must be given a reason to return to London in time for another arrest. In a word, this makes it feel more repetitive and confined than the other series.
Of course, this is not a direct history, it's a “blood”, so Edward Viles throws in stuff like Captain Howlet, a pirate with a mansion over the Dover cliffs which connects with a pirate cave below, poachers with hidden cabins which are also equipped with secret passages, an abandoned monastery with a bottomless pit, actual ghosts, villainous brothels, depictions of the hellish labor conditions of the day (Viles may have learned a trick or two from Reynolds here), people being buried alive (at least twice so far), river pirates, gangs of murderous rich rapists who delight in poking young ladies with swords, and, very importantly, private dungeons beneath Jonathan Wild's house, which he names “Little Newgate”.
For a reader like me, who consumes a lot of the cheap 19th century writing (this was done in 1866), there is much to be delighted with, as long as it's taken in small doses. Taken as a whole work, most readers are likely to find the repetition frustrating. The narrative cuts between Sheppard, Blueskin, and Bess, and when it isn't attending to them, it returns faithfully to Wild, who never fails to terrorize his men, his son, his doctor, his victims, to be injured, to drink brandy, and to have a good recuperative sleep.
Much is made of the characters' healing powers, and the unusual thickness of their skulls if often referred to, which excuses numerous injuries, including being shot with pistols (when the pistols don't miss or flash in the pan). Wild himself has his doctor always telling him to rest, which Wild will never do until he passes out and is dragged back to bed.
Our villain is also pretty overactive. Even when side villains and new predicaments are present, our heroes are never more than a few hours out of Wild's reach. At the rare moments when Wild is in the power of our heroes, they refuse to kill him as it violates their code and they restate that “he was born to hang”. Similarly, Wild will not kill our heroes, as he has sworn that they shall hang at Tyburn and he must never break his word.
“Black Bess” came out ahead in not being shackled with a dedicated villain, as this work is. Had “Blueskin” dialed Wild's presence back a tad, it may have had room to breathe.
The funny thing is that there is some very childish appeal in the constant cycle of our heroes raiding their enemy's home base to rescue one of their own. In fact, it's a lot like a Saturday morning cartoon, watching Sheppard take the same secret passage, break in and out of the same cells, fight his way out to the street all over again, etc.
If it sounds like there's no appeal here, it's not strictly true. You can almost see Edward Viles struggling against the history he's been handed, throwing in fresh highway robberies, corpses on horseback, contrived discussions and arguments and blowups, and the constant plunging beneath the ground into cellars with skeletons lying beneath cathedrals, pubs, rooming houses, etc. Blueskin must save a man buried alive in a crypt from attacking rats, revealing the real intention, not lighthearted adventure, but gleeful macabre bones and bloodflow!
Every boy who ran to the newsstand with his penny knew, just as an reader with internet access today will know, the fates of the real players involved in this story. The story foreshadows it many times, but that's part of the fun of a ride like this. You know how it will end, but you don't know all the random stuff you'll see before you get there.
Not to mention, Viles shows himself a more aware writer in this outing, giving his heroes actual faults and follies beyond the usual heroic ones, displaying more open criticism of the corruption in the setting, and actually consciously illustrating a need for social reform. It's safely 140 years in the past, but it's refreshing compared to the blind nationalism that tends to permeate English boys' fiction.
Also like in Viles' work “Black Bess”, this is a very long and repetitive adventure!
We meet Jack Sheppard shouting at the house of John Roots, a carpenter he was apprenticed to until he was turned out. Roots accused Sheppard of a theft he hadn't committed and “set him on the road to crime”. Shortly thereafter, Sheppard ends up in a bar where Blueskin is the center of attention and the two wind up as fast friends. Blueskin had a history with Sheppard's father, who died by hanging at Tyburn. Blueskin is also the second in command to Jonathan Wild, and so Sheppard also ends up in Wild's service.
It's about here that we get an heiress who was cheated out of her inheritance and is now the target for villains who fear she will claim her rights. I'm pretty sure she's an invention of Viles, this being “Edgeworth Bess” (what is it with Viles and the name “Bess”?), and she becomes the love interest of Sheppard, the charge of Blueskin, and the target of Jonathan Wild, who wants her property so he can obtain a title and become a proper “gentleman”.
In many ways this is a better matured work and more cohesive than “Black Bess”, but the fact that this is built to include Jack Sheppard's numerous prison breaks means that, every time our heroes escape from Wild or the police, they must be given a reason to return to London in time for another arrest. In a word, this makes it feel more repetitive and confined than the other series.
Of course, this is not a direct history, it's a “blood”, so Edward Viles throws in stuff like Captain Howlet, a pirate with a mansion over the Dover cliffs which connects with a pirate cave below, poachers with hidden cabins which are also equipped with secret passages, an abandoned monastery with a bottomless pit, actual ghosts, villainous brothels, depictions of the hellish labor conditions of the day (Viles may have learned a trick or two from Reynolds here), people being buried alive (at least twice so far), river pirates, gangs of murderous rich rapists who delight in poking young ladies with swords, and, very importantly, private dungeons beneath Jonathan Wild's house, which he names “Little Newgate”.
For a reader like me, who consumes a lot of the cheap 19th century writing (this was done in 1866), there is much to be delighted with, as long as it's taken in small doses. Taken as a whole work, most readers are likely to find the repetition frustrating. The narrative cuts between Sheppard, Blueskin, and Bess, and when it isn't attending to them, it returns faithfully to Wild, who never fails to terrorize his men, his son, his doctor, his victims, to be injured, to drink brandy, and to have a good recuperative sleep.
Much is made of the characters' healing powers, and the unusual thickness of their skulls if often referred to, which excuses numerous injuries, including being shot with pistols (when the pistols don't miss or flash in the pan). Wild himself has his doctor always telling him to rest, which Wild will never do until he passes out and is dragged back to bed.
Our villain is also pretty overactive. Even when side villains and new predicaments are present, our heroes are never more than a few hours out of Wild's reach. At the rare moments when Wild is in the power of our heroes, they refuse to kill him as it violates their code and they restate that “he was born to hang”. Similarly, Wild will not kill our heroes, as he has sworn that they shall hang at Tyburn and he must never break his word.
“Black Bess” came out ahead in not being shackled with a dedicated villain, as this work is. Had “Blueskin” dialed Wild's presence back a tad, it may have had room to breathe.
The funny thing is that there is some very childish appeal in the constant cycle of our heroes raiding their enemy's home base to rescue one of their own. In fact, it's a lot like a Saturday morning cartoon, watching Sheppard take the same secret passage, break in and out of the same cells, fight his way out to the street all over again, etc.
If it sounds like there's no appeal here, it's not strictly true. You can almost see Edward Viles struggling against the history he's been handed, throwing in fresh highway robberies, corpses on horseback, contrived discussions and arguments and blowups, and the constant plunging beneath the ground into cellars with skeletons lying beneath cathedrals, pubs, rooming houses, etc. Blueskin must save a man buried alive in a crypt from attacking rats, revealing the real intention, not lighthearted adventure, but gleeful macabre bones and bloodflow!
Every boy who ran to the newsstand with his penny knew, just as an reader with internet access today will know, the fates of the real players involved in this story. The story foreshadows it many times, but that's part of the fun of a ride like this. You know how it will end, but you don't know all the random stuff you'll see before you get there.
Not to mention, Viles shows himself a more aware writer in this outing, giving his heroes actual faults and follies beyond the usual heroic ones, displaying more open criticism of the corruption in the setting, and actually consciously illustrating a need for social reform. It's safely 140 years in the past, but it's refreshing compared to the blind nationalism that tends to permeate English boys' fiction.
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