#OTD in 1861.
Mrs. Henry Wood's 'sensation novel' East Lynne is published in London in three volumes, as its serialisation is concluded in The New Monthly Magazine. This year also sees its first theatrical adaptation, as Edith, or The Earl's Daughter, staged in New York City. The novel was rejected by two publishers before being accepted by Richard Bentley (1884).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Lynne
East Lynne at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/3322