Thomas Peckett Prest (1810-1859) was a British journalist, hack writer, and musician. He is best known for his collaborations with James Malcolm Rymer, coauthoring Varney the Vampire (1847) and The String of Pearls (1847), a novel also known as Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street. Prest worked as a writer for London publisher Edward Lloyd, earning a reputation for lampooning the novels of Charles Dickens.
![Cover of Gallant Tom; Or, the Perils of a Sailor Ashore and Afloat. by the Author of the Smuggler King, Etc. [I.E. Thomas Peckett Prest.] New Edition.](https://images.bookhype.com/covers/07/57/9157823f-ebc2-4dcd-b646-7507dcff7570/9781241596064-88a68c4c4d1b36d1c8104b-medium-cropped.jpg)
![Cover of The Death Ship; Or, the Pirate's Bride and the Maniac of the Deep. a Nautical Romance. by the Author of Gallant Tom [I.E. T. P. Prest], Etc.](https://images.bookhype.com/covers/68/82/91578240-9e5d-4429-b431-865ee2332886/9781241596262-6533909a50ef801a34f555-medium-cropped.jpg)