author
Herrick Johnstone
A shadowy figure from the world of 19th-century dime novels, this writer is known mainly through fast-moving adventure stories rather than a well-documented life. The surviving record suggests an American author—or possibly a pseudonym—behind tales of scouts, messengers, and privateers.
1 Audiobook
Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer; or, The Cruise of the Queer Fish
by Herrick Johnstone
About the author
Herrick Johnstone is a little-known author associated with American dime novels in the 1800s. Modern reference sources note that the name cannot be firmly traced, and some even suggest it may have been a pseudonym rather than a clearly identified real person.
What can be confirmed is the work itself. Johnstone's known titles include The Scout's Prize: or, The Old Dutch Blunderbuss, The Secret Shot: or, The Rivals of Misty Mount, The Messenger; or, The Maid of Gresham Grange, and Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer. These stories appeared in popular series linked to Beadle and related publishers, placing the author squarely in the lively, serialized adventure fiction market of the 1860s through the 1890s.
Because so little personal information survives, Herrick Johnstone stands as one of those intriguing almost-anonymous names from popular publishing history. The books suggest a taste for action, historical color, and dramatic titles—the kind of storytelling that helped make dime novels a favorite form of entertainment for a wide readership.