Thomas Peckett Prest facts for kids

Thomas Peckett Prest (born around 1810, died around 1859) was a talented British writer, journalist, and musician. He was very busy writing many popular stories called penny dreadfuls. These were cheap, exciting stories sold in weekly parts. Prest was especially good at writing scary horror stories.

Today, he is best known for helping create the famous character Sweeney Todd, the 'demon barber'. This character became famous in Prest's story The String of Pearls. Prest also worked with James Malcolm Rymer on another well-known story, Varney the Vampire. Prest used different pen names, including Bos, which was a bit like the famous writer Charles Dickens's pen name, Boz. People even said Prest's writing style was similar to Dickens's. Before he worked for the publisher Edward Lloyd, Prest was already known as a skilled musician.

Prest's Writing Style

Prest's writing often reminded people of Charles Dickens. He sometimes even copied Dickens's work, like in his story Oliver Twiss. However, Prest's stories were different because they didn't always have a strong plot or consistent storyline. He focused on lots of action and less description. This was to keep readers excited and make sure they bought the next weekly part. Unlike Dickens, Prest usually didn't include messages about society or social problems in his stories. It's also thought that he might have used ideas from old French stories for characters like Sweeney Todd.

Who Wrote What?

Back then, publishers like Edward Lloyd often didn't put the authors' names on their books. This means it's sometimes hard to know for sure who wrote many of the stories his company published. For example, there's still some debate about who truly wrote Varney the Vampire and The String of Pearls.

Some experts, like E.F. Bleiler and Louis James, believe that James Malcolm Rymer probably wrote Varney the Vampire. They looked at how Rymer wrote conversations and even found parts of the story in Rymer's own handwriting.

The String of Pearls is usually thought to be written by either Prest or James Malcolm Rymer. Other names like George Mcfarren or Edward Lloyd have also been suggested. The first time someone said Prest was the author was in 1894. Then, in 1901, someone else argued that Rymer was the real writer. Even though Prest has often been given credit for The String of Pearls, some people now think Rymer might be the true author. However, many believe that these stories were written together, so Prest and Rymer are often called co-authors.