Fri Forgotten Books: The Mystery of Central Park, by Nellie Bly (1889).

He was questioned why he used the definite article instead of the indefinite in answering the officer's question.
—Nellie Bly, The Mystery of Central Park

In The Mystery of Central Park, lazy man-about-town Richard "Dick" Treadwell must prove his worth to prospective fiancee Penelope (and clear his name) by discovering who killed a young woman in Central Park. Dick finds that he is being followed as his investigation leads him into less savory areas of New York. Bly's interest in portraying the plight of the working class is evident in Dick's acquaintance with pretty factory worker Dido and her friends who are deprived of a living wage (a relationship not regarded with favor by Penelope).

"Penelope, with calm but serious face, kept close to the
morgue-keeper." Illustration from The Mystery of
Central Park by Nellie Bly. New York World,
19 July 1889

The modern reader will find it hard to give credence to Dick's chance discoveries of information that prove so crucial to the case, and those with even a passing acquaintance with forensics will loathe the fact that Dick is permitted to take the dead woman's clothes from the morgue (although his reason for doing so shows some logic). The portrait of the Pygmalion-like murderer has some elements of interest. The Mystery of Central Park should perhaps be regarded as a curiosity of a famed journalist's career and a continuation of her focus on progressive issues rather than as a significant contribution to the mystery literature.

Nellie Bly, ca. 1890.
Library of Congress,
Prints & Photos Div.

The intrepid Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, 1864–1922) became a reporter at age 16 and made her name as a "stunt" journalist, accomplishing a celebrated around-the-world journey in 72 days (meeting Jules Verne along the way and beating the 80 days of his character Phileas Fogg) and arranging her commitment to a mental asylum so she could write about the treatment of the mentally ill (see Ten Days in a Mad-House, 1887). The Mystery of Central Park was her sole mystery novel.

There are only three copies in U.S. libraries of the book version of The Mystery of Central Park. I found the serialized version in the New York World and have uploaded the parts as a resource for readers:

• Parts 1–4
• Parts 5–8
• Parts 9–12 

Update, 6-11-13. The Library of Congress has digitized its copy of The Mystery of Central Park (available at the Internet Archive). 

Literary groups: Are they popular?

In Dirda's Reading Room, the Washington Post's Michael Dirda inquires about the popularity of literary groups, especially those centered on 19th-century works, mentioning the Jules Verne Society, the Ghost Story Society, and the Baker Street Irregulars (but missing the good folks at Gaslight). Societies such as the American Chesterton Society, which holds an annual conference, also are fairly active.

About the image: Jules Verne, NYPL.

Happy birthday, Jules Verne.

Jules Verne—friend of Alexandre Dumas pére and author of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and other highly imaginative works—was born today in Nantes, France, in 1828.

The Maison d'Ailleurs in Switzerland has a permanent exhibition on Verne; the Dutch Jules Verne Society has an online selection of Verne-related materials from its archive; the Jules Verne Restaurant is located in the Eiffel Tower; Andrew Nash has a Web site on Jules Verne comic books; this short piece in The Bookman (1909) discusses the influence of Edgar Allan Poe on Verne; and illustrator Jim Tierney produced some Verne covers for his senior thesis.

About the photo: Jules Verne, NYPL

Happy birthday, Nellie Bly.

Elizabeth Cochran, better known as intrepid journalist Nellie Bly, was born today in Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania, in 1864. Best known for beating the fictional 80-day, around-the-world trip by Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg (she did it in 72 days in 1889–90 and met Verne en route), she also managed (in 1887) to get herself committed to an insane asylum so she could write about the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill.

About the photo: Elizabeth Cochran, ca. 1890. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.