Boxed Juvenile Set- Home Twilight Stories 1871

Boxed sets of juvenile series from the 19th century are becoming unbelievably hard to find. This is despite the fact that virtually every juvenile series published between 1860 and 1890 originally came within a box. I suppose the boxes were just too easily ruined, stepped on, eaten by the dog, etc.

Here is a four book boxed set -Home Twilight Stories- published by the Boston publisher- Gould and Lincoln. The books were all published in 1871 and thus the date of the box. The four volumes originally were copyrighted in 1867.

 These 16 mo. books were priced at 90 cents each and $3.60 for the box. (A lot of money in 1871).
No author is listed.
1. Much Ado About Nothing
2. Briery Wood
3. Hero Without Courage
4. Young Fortune Seekers

After Gould and Lincoln published the set,  James Miller, a New York publisher  also  published the four books. That was in the late 1870's

 Gould and Lincoln was one of the oldest, very well established Boston publishers during the mid-1800's.  The predecessors of  this firm included Samuel Hall (in the 1770's) and Ensign Lincoln in 1800's. The publishing house of Gould, Kendall and Lincoln was founded in 1835 by Charles Kendall, Joshua Lincoln and Charles Gould. In 1850 Kendall withdrew from the firm and the newly named Gould and Lincoln was formed. This firm had a strong run for 25 years publishing juveniles, general literature, textbooks and biography.

Rollo's Tour in Europe- Boxed Set

The Rollo's Tour in Europe was one of the most popular series for juveniles in the mid and late 19th century. The ten book series was published by 27 different publishers between 1853 and 1907.
The first editions were published by W. J. Reynolds (Volumes 1-6) and Brown , Taggard and Chase ( Volumes 7-10).

The Series:
Rollo
On the Atlantic 1853
In Paris 1854
In Switzerland 1854
In London 1855 (copyright is 1854 but first edition title page has 1855)
On the Rhine 1855
In Scotland 1856 (Copyright is 1855 but first edition title page is 1856)
In Geneva 1857
In Holland 1857
In Naples 1858
In Rome 1858



Here is a stunning example of a boxed set from 1860. This set, published by Brown, Taggard and Chase, includes all 10 volumes. It includes books published in 1858, 1859 and 1860.
Most of the Rollo publishers in the 19th century did put together boxed sets but they are incredibly rare.

For much more on the Rollo Series see my website: http://www.henryaltemus.com/Rollo/

If you are interested in the Abbott series. you can see some of my other Abbott pictorial bibliographies by clicking on "Other Abbott Series" in the upper right of the Rollo home page.

James R. Osgood and Company Trade Card

James R. Osgood was a Boston publishing firm initially active between 1871 and 1878. Osgood was an employee of the Ticknor and Fields publishing house. Later he became a named partner with Fields, Osgood and Company. When Fields retired in 1871 the new firm was called James R. Osgood and Company.

In 1878 to forestall financial ruin Osgood joined with the Hurd and Houghton firm to form Houghton, Osgood and Company. A fire destroyed the inventory of this newly formed company in 1879. Osgood started up again in 1880 This new company went out of business in 1885.

The firm published a number of periodicals- Atlantic Monthly, Our Young Folks, Every Saturday- as well as numerous first editions including books by Bret Harte, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Many of these latter authors were originally published by Ticknor and Fields.

Here is a nice trade card from James R. Osgood and Company. The card advertised on the back The Glad Year Around written by Miss A. G. Plympton. It was first published in 1881. Thus this card is most likely from that year.

Hurst and Company Canterbury Series Book with Box

Here is a nice example of a Hurst and Company book and its attendant box. This book, Whittier's Poems, is from the 25 volume Canterbury Edition of the Poets published by Hurst and Company in 1906. These boxed books are becoming harder and harder to find.

Hurst and Company was a New York publisher in the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of its later works were of reprints in series form. Earlier there was a mix of reprints, how to books and the like.

Most all late 19th century(1880's) and later American published books originally came either with dust jackets or in labeled boxes. Yet when looking at ads on the various search sites you would think this is far from the truth. Today a quick glance at ABE Hurst and Company published books lists over 400 with the "no dust jacket as issued" comment in their description.
This is just not true.

Lockwood, Brooks and Company Postcard

Lockwood, Brooks and Company was founded in 1875 by John S. Lockwood, Walter Denison Brooks and Phineas S. Tobey. It went out of business in 1886

It was a successor to several well known publishers. The chain chronologically were " William Crosby and Company, Crosby and Nichols, Crosby Nichols, Lee and Company, Nichols and Noyes, Noyes, Holmes and Company and finally Lockwood, Brooks, and Company. Of interest is that John Lockwood began worked with Crosby and Nichols and Brooks worked with the firm of Nichols and Noyes.



Lockwood, Brooks and Company was a rather small player in the Boston publishing scene.
In my 19th century bibliography Lockwood, Brooks is listed as the publisher of four juvenile series. Noted here is the second book from the two book Child Life Series written by Ellis Gray.


Other series include The Kettle Club Series (four books by Virginia Johnson), Strive and Win Series, and the Children's Art Series (three titles by Elizabeth Champney).

Shown here is a postcard postmarked in 1878 which advertises several books including the one shown here. Also the Champney series book All Around the Pallette is noted.

Henry Altemus Advertising Cover

After years of publishing Bibles and photographic albums Henry Altemus began to print books for reading in 1889. The first of these books were the six titles of the of the Dore's Masterpieces Series. ( http://henryaltemus.com/series/series78.htm). All six oversized volumes were published until 1903 in a number of different formats. Because of the beautiful Gustave Dore illustrations, these books are always in great demand and consistently sell for a premium.

This advertising cover from 1890 pictures Format 1- Volume 1 in the series. The other books of this group are listed at the top of the envelope. Die Dore Bibel Gallerie is a German translation of Volume #1 and was included in this series beginning in 1892. (Thus, at that point there were seven titles in the series.)

This is the only Altemus envelope that I have seen that pictures a book. For more Altemus ephemera see http://henryaltemus.com/ephemera/ephemera.htm

Estes and Lauriat wins International Exhibition Award

Estes and Lauriat was a prolific Boston publisher in the late 19th century. Elegant bindings, beautifully appointed publisher's series and oversized books for juveniles highlight what was an extensive book list.

Among the most popular of its books were the Zigzag Series by Butterworth and the Three Vassar Girls Series by Champney.

This house had its origins when Dana Estes joined Henry Degen. The Degen, Estes and Company publishing firm was the immediate predecessor to Estes and Lauriat which was founded in 1872. Because of financial difficulties Charles Lauriat left the publishing firm in 1898 and Dana Estes carried on with Dana Estes and Company.

In 1876 the International Exhibition took place in Philadelphia. This advertising cover notes that Estes and Lauriat received highest honors "in every department of bookmaking". The exact award stated: "Commended for accuracy, neatness and beauty of typographical and engraved work, clearness of paper and standard character of publications". Other publishers who received awards in this area were Lippincott, Potter, and Zell.

This cover is quite interesting because of the association between the publishing house and Philadelphia's International Exhibition.

Book corner protectors from DeWolfe and Fiske

Book corner protectors have been previously discussed in a blog post on October 29, 2009. They are distinctly uncommon and at that time I showed two that I had found. Here is another one.

The book it protects is an 1895 reprint of Captain January by Laura E. Richards. Estes and Lauriat is the publisher . In a book writing career that included numerous popular children's books, this is perhaps Richards' most famous title. For a good biography see: http://readseries.com/auth-oz/richardsbio.html.

The corner protectors here were issued by DeWolfe and Fiske Company. In addition to being a publishing company of note, it also ran the Archway Bookstore.

It was there that this book was sold. This book however was not sold in 1895 despite the title page date.

In 1907 the Archway bookstore moved from 365 Washington Street to the Franklin Street address. Thus the corner protectors at their earliest are from 1907.

I believe that corner protectors from this era are much more difficult to find than dust jackets from the same years.

Butterick Publishing Company Postcard

Although this is a magazine not a book publisher, I thought this postcard was appealing enough to post it here.

The card which is postmarked in 1902 advertises on its front several of the Butterick publications. A well dressed fashion appropriate woman is pictured on the card.

The reverse refers to the receipt of funds for a subscription.

The Butterick Publishing Company was founded by Ebeneezer Butterick. Butterick was a tailor known for clothing patterns. In 1867 he introduced his first magazine- Ladies Quarterly of Broadway Fashions. Over the next number of years Butterick began a number of fashion journals including The Delineator, Metropolitan Fashions, and Modern Revue. In 2001 the McCall Pattern Company acquired Butterick. For a more detailed account see http://butterick.mccall.com/butterick-history-pages-1007.php