Classics Illustrated No. 44: Mysteries of Paris: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This issue of Classics Illustrated contained an adaptation of Eugène Sue’s 1842 novel The Mysteries of Paris. Gilberton Publishing, Inc. published this issue of Classics Illustrated in December 1947. H. C. Kiefer illustrated the cover that depicts the character of Rodolph carrying the orphan Fleur-de-Marie to the farm of Madame Georges.

Classic Comics was a series of comic book adaptations of literary classics published from 1941 until 1971. The series aimed to expose young people to classic literature through the more popular medium of a comic book. Classic Comics was first published by Elliott Publishing in 1941, but founder Albert Kanter spun off publishing to the Gilberton Company in 1942. In 1947 Classic Comics became Classics Illustrated. Kanter sold the company to the Frawley Corporation in 1967, who published the series until 1971.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1947
• maker: Gilberton Company, Inc.
• Object Name: comic book
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 7 1/2 in x 10 in; 19.05 cm x 25.4 cm
• Subject: Comics
• ID Number: 2013.0086.106
• catalog number: 2013.0086.106
• accession number: 2013.0086
• Credit Line: Gift of Olivia V. Crisson and Phillip M.S. Crisson in honor of Peter Bozzer
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.