The New York Dime Library No. 978

This 1897 Beadle and Adams dime novel, "Prince Monte Cristo in New York; or, The Conspirator Detective" by J.C. Cowdrick, follows the titular mysterious wealthy European prince and the renowned prima donna Signorina Vasari, both recently arrived in New York society. The story opens with a cloaked figure administering an oath of secrecy to twelve sword-wielding conspirators. The Prince, apparently twenty-three, is the social lion of the hour; Vasari, the "Queen of Song," captivates society equally. Their paths cross when Vasari's runaway carriage collides with the Prince's on a fashionable avenue; he heroically restrains her horses and offers his carriage home. The narrative includes society intrigue involving characters like Laurence Weldron, who pays an unprecedented five hundred dollars for opera standing room to witness Vasari's performance, and becomes instantly infatuated with her, abandoning his near-engagement to Josephine Blarcombe. The prima donna's performance is rapturously received, her voice described as surpassingly grand.