James Malcolm Rymer

James Malcolm Rymer (1814–1884) was a British 19th-century writer of penny dreadfuls, and is the probable co-author with Thomas Peckett Prest of both Varney the Vampire and The String of Pearls (1847), in which the notorious villain Sweeney Todd makes his literary debut. as well as his usage of many pseudonyms such as Merry or Errym. He was of Scottish descent, though born in Clerkenwell, London on 1 February 1814 to a working-class family. The first claim of Prest being the author came in 1894 followed by a 1901 response claiming that Rymer was the true author. Although The String of Pearls was historically attributed to Prest, more recent arguments have been made that Rymer should be considered the true author. Many of these works were cooperatively written, so both usually are considered co-authors of the piece.

In popular culture According to legend, Rymer and Lloyd both grew so embarrassed by his previous work that they paid people to go around and take them out of stores to prevent them being seen by the public. Dick Collins speculates that this story originates from a copyright dispute where Lloyd lost the rights to some of Rymer's works and had to ask for them to be sent back as he could no longer profit off their sales.