Thoughts of Bibliomaven

Estes and Lauriat wins International Exhibition Award

2012-02-01T14:22:00.001-06:00

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

2012-01-25T10:27:00.000-06:00

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

2012-01-24T09:20:00.004-06:00

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

Merry Christmas from D. Lothrop and Company

2011-12-11T00:11:00.001-06:00

Last year around Christmas I showed a nice D. Lothrop and Company trade card from about 1886. This card is identical on the reverse to that one. The front shows the same little girl in a different scene. Clearly Lothrop produced a series of cards for the holidays.

Of interest is that last year a very alert reader noted that the little girl wore glasses- very unusual to see on a trade card. On that card the little girl was reading and perhaps needed glasses. On this card the little girl is playing with her dolls and has no glasses.

''Happy Holidays"

James Miller , New York Publisher Trade Card

2011-12-10T14:26:00.004-06:00

James Miller was a New York Publisher active between 1860 and 1883. It succeeded the C.S. Francis publishing house. Its areas of concentration were juvenile books and illustrated gift books. Miller is thought to be the first that made a practice of bringing out books in series as boxed sets. In the later years of James Miller it was thought to be more of a bookseller than a book publisher.

James Miller was considered one of the giants of New York publishing in the mid-nineteenth century . Miller died in 1883 at the age of 61 at which point the James Miller publishing company publisher also passed away.

An obituary in the American Bookseller stated that his "immediate cause of death was due to a shock received from papers served upon him" related to a lawsuit. How simple a time must the 19th century have been!

In my 2003 bibliography I included 28 James Miller juvenile series. I suspect that there will be quite a few more in the upcoming revision.

Here is a nice trade card for this publisher. Between 1878 and 1883 Miller was at the 779 Broadway address.

Another Albert Bigelow Paine Inscription

2011-11-20T11:28:00.007-06:00

This book is #5 in the Boys and Girls Booklovers Series. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series56.htm.
Initially it was published as a non series book in 1903 and in 1905 became part of the aforementioned series.

This book has an inscription by the author to the dedicatee of the book. But even better is that the dedicatee is also the title character of the book.

Altemus' Circus Boys Series Dust Jackets

2011-11-18T16:51:00.009-06:00

The earliest editions of this five volume Henry Altemus Company published series are hard to find with dust jackets. The books published before 1915 had the brown uncoated dust jackets which tend to be quite brittle. The later jackets of Format 2 and Format 3 have the white coated paper.

Teddy Tucker and Phil Forrest travel with the circus and have the usual incredible adventures that most likely can only be found within the pages of juvenile fiction. The books were written by Frank Gee Patchin (who also wrote the Pony Rider Boys Series) using the pseudonym of Edgar B. P. Darlington.

http://henryaltemus.com/series/series8.htm

1 Circus Boys on the Flying Rings 1910
2 Circus Boys Across the Continent 1911
3 Circus Boys in Dixie Land 1911
4 Circus Boys on the Mississippi 1912
5 Circus Boys on the Plains 1920
6 Circus Boys at the Top (not published)

Several different covers/dust jackets were used during this series' publishing history. The Format 1 dust jackets have just been added to the henryaltemus.com database.
On the First Edition jacket (above) both both boys have entirely orange uniforms whereas the later First Format jacket (below) is different. In the latter jacket the boy standing on the rings has a black uniform. This jacket design was used until about 1915.

Beginning in about 1915 and ending in 1924 the line drawn dust jacket has a clown pictured on its cover. The later jacket in this format has brown lettering.

From 1924 until the end of this series' run in the early 1930's the dust jacket cover was a multicolored pictorial one with a circus panorama.

This series was reprinted by Saalfield and Company in 1934 as set #1353 after Henry Altemus went out of business. All five books were sold separately as well as in boxed sets of (any) three. These reprints were published for a number of years. The dust jacket is identical to that of the last Altemus format.

Albert Bigelow Paine Inscription to Book Dedicatee

2011-11-15T12:20:00.011-06:00

Having the first edition of a book is great . Having the first copy of a book with an author's inscription is even better. Here is the ultimate (at least to me). An author's inscription to the dedicatee which states "first copy".

Shown here are the cover of the book, Paine's inscription and the dedication page from the book.

Albert Bigelow Paine wrote several books that were published by Henry Altemus. Paine is most widely known for his four volume Mark Twain biography. But he also wrote a number of other books including Altemus' three volume Arkansaw Bear Series.

The first book, The Arkansaw Bear, was published in 1898. The second book, Elsie and the Arkansaw Bear (pictured here) was published in 1909. In 1929 Arkansaw Bear Complete which included both earlier books was published.

http://henryaltemus.com/series/series43.htm

W. B. Conkey Dust Jacket

2011-07-10T13:43:00.006-05:00

Sport's themes on the covers of juvenile series books in the early 1900's are a common finding. Discoveries of baseball, football and track are probably the most common. Tennis, on the other hand, is quite scarce as a cover subject.

In a previous blog post I pictured a number of covers with different sports including the High School Girl Series which has a tennis cover and dust jacket.

Here is another tennis dust jacket.

This book is from the 50 volume Varsity Series that was published by W.B. Conkey in the early 1900's. The titles are all reprints. Conkey published numerous publisher's series (of which this is one) as well as many children's board books. Its list also contained most all the usual subjects.

The Varsity Series included books by Henty, Optic, Verne in addition to other well known authors of the time.

Finding Conkey books with dust jackets is somewhat difficult. In fact, most advertisements note-"no jacket, as issued". That statement is generally wrong about all the publishers of the era, including Conkey. Of course, notwithstanding that an example of a Varsity Series jacket is shown here, the Conkey catalogue does note that the series was published with "printed wrappers"

Henry A. Young and Company-Publisher Trade Card

2011-07-04T09:42:00.009-05:00

Here is a trade card for Henry A. Young. Its date is estimated between 1877 and 1882.

Henry A. Young and Company was a Boston publishing house which was active from 1868 into the 1880's. Early on Henry A. Young was associated with Andrew F. Graves (1862-1868). Graves and Young mostly published religious books and children's/ juvenile series. After its association with Graves ended, Young published numerous juvenile/children's books in series from 1868 until about 1880 when it changed directions and concentrated on educational books, Sunday School books, scrap books, and books for entertainment.

During these years (1868- early 1880's) it published books on the Henry A. Young and Company imprint except in the 1874-1875 time frame. During that period Young published with Bartlett as Young and Bartlett in a short lived business arrangement

In May 1877 it moved to the 13 Bromfield address from Cornhill Street. By 1883 it was located at Arch Street also in Boston.

In my original 19th century juvenile series bibliography (2003) there are 33 series published by Henry A. Young. In the update there are 68 series. Most of the Young books were original sold in boxed sets. The "Young" series did not stand out in any way. A few of its authors are well known , like Harriette Newell Baker (Aunt Hattie/Madeline Leslie) and Daniel Wise (Lance Lancewood) but most of the series remain totally under the radar of most collectors.

The books typically were blindstamped with gold gilt decorations and lettering on the spine. A couple of examples are below.

The blue book is from the Little Folk's Library. The green book, Will and the Donkey, is from Little Willie's Library.

Sheldon and Company-19th Century Publisher

2011-07-02T08:20:00.010-05:00

Sheldon and Company was an important New York publisher in the mid-1800's. My interest in it stems from its publication of juvenile series books. In my bibliography published in 2003 I described 23 series. In the upcoming new edition there will be 49 series noted and discussed.

The company was founded by Smith Sheldon. Initially urged by Baptist friends to publish denominational books, he moved to New York and purchased the interest of the Mr. Law in Lamport, Blakeman and Law and thus founded Sheldon, Lamport and Blakeman in 1854.

Lamport retired in 1856 and thus Sheldon, Blakeman and Company was born. In 1859 Blakeman left the firm to join Albert Mason in a new firm Blakeman and Mason. So Sheldon and Company was founded.

I am enclosing copies of two letterheads from 1859. These are quite informative since they list partners in the firm and show a partial catalogue of Sheldon'd booklist.

Some of the most popular of the Sheldon books were those series written by Jacob Abbott. The ten volume Rollo's Tour in Europe Series was published in a number of formats. In addition Abbot's Florence Stories, Harlie Series, the Rollo Books, Rollo's Story Books, and Abbott's
American Histories were all popular series published by Sheldon

Sheldon published series by other well known authors also. These included the Cottage Series by Peter Parley, Home Stories by T. S. Arthur and Jack Trowbridge's Brighthope Series.

In addition to Abbott's works, Sheldon published a couple of extremely popular travelogue juvenile series. These included the Spectacle Series by Sarah. W. Lander and Walter's Tour in the East by Daniel Eddy. The Percy Family, another travelogue series by Daniel Eddy was co-published with Graves and Young in the early 1860's

The formats of the Sheldon books went through a standard evolution. The early books were blindstamped with various cover patterns and gold gilt titles and decorations on the spines.

By the early 1870's the covers of most of the series books also had gold gilt designs and lettering. Examples are shown here.

The Sheldon series books originally could be bought individually or in boxed sets. Finding single books is not especially hard. Finding them in boxed sets is next to impossible.

Unusual book-The Jingle of a Jap published by Caldwell

2011-03-20T12:27:00.012-05:00

As I continue to work on a bibliography of the H. M. Caldwell publishing company, I have come across a very unusual book. In the past I have shown books with various cover attachments but never anything like this.

In 1906 Caldwell published a not quite politically correct book entitled The Jingle of a Jap. This attractive book was written and illustrated by Clara Bell Thurston. It is about the love of a Japanese doll for a Parisian doll. This was an interracial theme not widely accepted in that era. Glossy pages with beautiful illustrations are plentiful throughout the book.

The cover of this book is made of cretonne. This is a "strong , white fabric with a hempen warp and linen weft". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretonne). Clearly the covers of this edition were taken from a large decorative piece of linen such that each book takes a slightly different piece of the linen swatch. Thus, each cover is distinct. This is similar to that which is seen on the Altemus Boys and Girls' Classics Series. See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series57.htm .

The first edition though is quite unique. A bisque doll is attached by twine in the upper right corner of the cover.

This very rare first edition came in an oversized box which is large enough to put the book and doll into without difficulty. The picture on the box is identical to the title page.

I have seen three books with dolls and interestingly enough each of the three dolls had different clothing. I am showing the other books/dolls . One is for sale at this site: http://www.eclectibles.com/The_Jingle_of_the_Jap_by_Clara_Bell_Thurston_p/55067.htm.

The other is shown here at a site about japanese Dolls: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Jdolls/jdollwestern/jingle/index.htm

The second edition was published in 1907. This book has board covers with an inlaid cover picture which duplicates the title page.

A very fascinating book.

Estes and Lauriat Trade Card- The Zigzag Series

2011-03-09T13:25:00.006-06:00

In the past I have shown several trade cards advertising Estes and Lauriat published books. Here is another card from this Boston Publisher. This small card ( 4.75 x 2.5) advertises one Zigzag book the back.
Previously Butterworth's Zigzag Series has been discussed. It was perhaps the most popular series that Estes and Lauriat published. The Journeys in Europe book was published in 1880. Zigzag JOurneys in Classic Lands was published in 1881. This card therefore is most likely from 1881.

The two formats of "Europe" which are noted in the advertisement on the trade card are shown below.

D.C. Heath and Co. with an Advertising Postcard

2011-02-09T18:52:00.008-06:00

An advertising postcard from 1897 for D. C. Heath and Company is shown here today. Rarely do the publishers of educational books get any significant mention in book blogs or on rare book sites. I thought this postcard might be a nice way to introduce this publishing house.

Daniel Collamore Heath founded his publishing house in 1885. He was born in Salem, Maine in 1843 and later graduated from Amherst College in 1868. He taught school for awhile and was superintendent of schools in Farmington Maine for a year. Heath attended the Bangor Theological Seminary after college also but illness prevented his graduation and subsequent entry into the ministry.

Boston office of D.C. Heath and Company beginning in 1914

Another educational publishing firm, the Ginn Brothers, offered him a job as a salesman for the books of Ginn's company and because of Heath's great success he was offered a permanent job with Ginn, opening Ginn's New York Office Heath was made a partner in 1876 when one of the Ginn brothers retired. The firm was renamed Ginn and Heath at that time. Nine years later in 1885 Heath went out on his own founding the D.C. Heath and Company publishing house.

Heath and his company felt they had a new idea for education. They concentrated on science. In 1886 there were only 24 books and pamphlets on their list but half were science related. These science texts were designed to have the student understand concepts and not just memorize facts.

Heath died in 1908 but the company carried on with the publication of textbooks and educational titles.

Although it began in Boston, by 1925 D.C. Heath also had offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, London and San Francisco.

In 1995 D. C. Heath and Company was acquired by Houghton Miflin for 455 million dollars.

Horatio Alger Trade Card-The Backwood's Boy

2011-01-23T08:46:00.006-06:00

Abraham Lincoln, The Backwoods Boy; or, How a Rail-Splitter Became President was written by Horatio Alger and published first by John R. Anderson & Henry S. Allen in 1883.
Here is a trade card for that book. I believe this card refers to the first edition. The later reprints by David McKay and Street and Smith which are titled " The Backwood's Boy" do not mention the "Rail-Splitter" in the subtitle.

This card notes the price of the book as $1.00. The original price on the first edition is $1.25. Perhaps the bookseller discounted the price.

I have seen not any other trade cards for Alger books. I believe that they must be quite scarce

A. L. Bancroft S.F. Publisher Advertising Cover

2011-01-22T09:25:00.008-06:00

Generally, when I think of the locations of 19th century book publishers I think of Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Even Chicago and Cincinnati make my short list. Publishers west of the Mississippi just do not appear on my radar.

In about 1870 Albert Little Bancroft succeeded his brother's publishing firm. The latter, H. H. Bancroft , founded by Hubert Howe Bancroft, was an active publishing house from 1856-1870. In 1870, Hubert wanted to concentrate on his writing (especially historical works relating to the California and the West Coast) and thus gave up his firm to his brother , the firm becoming A. L. Bancroft & Co.

The latter firm concentrated on law books, reference books, and blank books. The Bancroft publishing building burnt down in April, 1886.

Here is an advertising cover for A. L. Bancroft & Co. It is for a blank book.

The Youth's Companion Happy New Year

2010-12-30T17:34:00.005-06:00

With the New Year upon us I thought these cards were appropriate ones for this week.

The Youth's Companion was an extremely popular magazine for juveniles. It was published in Boston by The Perry Mason Company from 1827 to 1929 when it was absorbed by The American Boy. ( Apparently this company's name is the origin of the Perry Mason name used by Erle Stanley Gardner in his books).

So let these cards wish anyone who glances at this site a happy New Year.

Cary

D. Lothrop and Co. Trade Card

2010-12-23T00:01:00.004-06:00

Here is another piece of ephemera from the Lothrop book publishing firm. Perfect for this time of the year, it is a Christmas card which advertises a book sale.

Many of the book publishers of this era also sold books to make ends meet. With this card Lothrop announces that it will no longer be in the retail business.

D. Lothrop & co. was at the Franklin Street (on the corner of Franklin and Hawley) address between 1875 and 1887. Prior to that Lothrop was on Cornhill Street. Although I cannot be certain, I believe this card dates from 1886. That is the year when Lothrop advertisements changed from "Publishers and Booksellers" to say only " Publishers".

Lothrop and Co. Pioneer Postcard 1885

2010-12-21T13:52:00.005-06:00

Here is a pioneer postcard from 1885. D. Lothrop & Co. has been reviewed in this blog previously. Throughout several name iterations it was a major publisher from 1868 to 1904.

To give you some idea of the output of this publisher appreciate that I have so far discovered more than 300 children's/ juvenile book series that it published. In the revision of my 19th century children's/ juvenile series book this dwarfs the output of any other publisher.

The card shown here is a great piece of book publisher ephemera. Pioneer postcards are those that were produced prior to July 1, 1898. The card shown here is dated October 28, 1885 and postmarked the same day.

On the reverse side of the card you can see advertisements at the top for Lothrop's children's magazines. But the fascinating thing about this card is the that the addressee is the B. Westermann Co. and the subject is about the binding of a book.

Westermann was a foreign bookseller and importer. I am assuming that the book mentioned by Lothrop on the card is "Alaska, Its Southern Coast and Sitkan Archipelago" by E. Ruhamah Scidmore, 1885. It would seem that Lothrop was going to sell this title through an arrangement with Westermann. The details of the business arrangement are unknown to me but this postcard does make clear that there was a relationship between the two companies

A very interesting card.

1868-69 Boxed set of The Robin Redbreast Series by Leslie

2010-11-12T14:31:00.010-06:00

Here is a great boxed set of the Robin Redbreast Series which was published in 1868-1869. This set of six books was published by Woolworth, Ainsworth and Company and co-published with A. S. Barnes

Dating this boxed set can be done with relative ease. The Crosby and Ainsworth publishing house was succeeded by Woolworth, Ainsworth & Company in 1868.

By 1870 the Boston address for this publisher had changed to 32 Bromfield Street. Since the address noted on the box is 117 Washington Street in Boston , we know the boxed set was published in 1868 or 1869.

In 1871 the company closed its Boston office and was publishing with a New York and a Chicago address.

Not all is clear in terms of books of this series however. Although the title on the box is clearly The Robin Redbreast Series, the six books listed on the box and found within the box are not all from that series. Three of the books listed are from the Little Frankie Series. I am unsure how this mixup occurred. As you can see on a list of the books shown below, this box certainly includes the books from the two different series.
Both of these six volume series (Little Frankie and The Robin Redbreast Series) were initially published as boxed sets in 1860 by Crosby, Nichols, Lee & Co. Subsequently they were published by Crosby and Nichols and later by Crosby and Ainsworth before finally ending up being published by Woolworth, Ainsworth and Co. in 1868.

A comprehensive biography of the author, Madeline Leslie , a pseudonym for Harriette Newell Baker Woods, can be found at Deidre Johnson's site: http://www.readseries.com/auth-les-wise/baker-bio.html .

Virtually all juvenile series from the 1850's to 1890's were published in boxes like the one shown here. Finding them is another matter.

DID DARWIN SIGN BOOKS AFTER HE WAS DEAD??

2010-10-22T16:53:00.007-05:00

When you buy items online you have to trust the seller. Generally if inexpensive items are described incorrectly, you just bite the bullet. But what about when a very expensive item is described wrong. Whose ultimate responsibility is it?

Here is the case in point. As some may know I am working on a bibliography of the H. M. Caldwell Company. This publisher was in business between 1896-1913. Here is his "Start-up" announcement from Publishers' Weekly in April, 1896. During that year and for several years thereafter Caldwell published the Illustrated Library of Famous Books by Famous Authors.

Initially the imprint just noted the New York site of business but by 1898 both New York and Boston could be found below the Caldwell imprint on the title page.

Here is a title page of a book and ad for a recent auction. As a Caldwell book it could not have been published before 1896. With the Boston and New York Imprints this book is at least an 1898 book. The ad as you can see says a Charles Darwin signed book. Well unless Darwin's theory of evolution included reincarnation this book was published and signed after his death in 1882.

The ad:

"Charles Darwin(1809-1882). English scientist. While still a student at Cambridge, he became a naturalist aboard The Beagle where he began to assemble data on plant and animal life in the Galapagos Islands. His theories of the natural evolution of species, as expounded in The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, first published in 1859, remain controversial to this day.

Signed book: Descent of Man. By Charles Darwin. Hard cover, 5x7.5, no jacket. Illustrations. New York: H. M. Caldwell, (1874?). 672 pages, indexed. Second edition. Black ink signature "Ch Darwin" on front free endpaper. Darwin’s second great book on evolutionary theory, in which he applies his findings to human evolution and details his theory of sexual selection. Laid in loose is a flyleaf from another book signed "Ch. Darwin" in black ink."

Perhaps the laid in autograph is worth the money but the buyer paid $4700 for a book not autographed by Darwin. I don't know about you but I am glad I do not know who "won" this book because I would not like to be the bearer of bad news.

Bookmark for Tad Lincoln written by Wayne Whipple

2010-08-19T15:26:00.004-05:00

Book and publishing house advertisements certainly come in all shapes and sizes. Calendars, broadsides, pamphlets, envelopes etc. are all part of the ephemera landscape. Here is something I have not shown before-a bookmark.
This bookmark promotes the Tad Lincoln book written by Wayne Whipple and published by George Sully and Company. The bookmark dates to 1926.

Wayne Whipple was the author of numerous books. He wrote seven different series (http://waynewhipple.com/wwseries.html) including the American History Makers and Patriotic Series both published by Altemus as well as the Radio Boy Series and the Bill Brown Series. He penned ten non-series books three of which were Lincoln related.( http://waynewhipple.com/wwnonseries.html)

Among his accomplishments include designing the Peace Flag. This flag won a national contest circa 1912. It was the best of 500 entries submitted and was selected by William Taft. Regardless of the contest results, Whipple's flag never replaced old glory and has been relegated to the footnote pile of forgettable trivia.

Peck's Bad Boy Plays- Ephemera

2010-08-07T10:16:00.013-05:00

George W. Peck authored the Peck's Bad Boy books. The books which were incredibly popular spawned movies, sponsorships for cigar companies and fishing gear, board games, and among other things, a very popular play.

The Peck's Bad Boy play was produced over approximately a 30 year period from the early 1880's to around 1910. Charles Felton Pidgin wrote the musical play (adapted from the Peck's Bad Boy stories) which formed the basis for the Atkinson Comedy Company's production. Atkinson's play was certainly the most prevalent during these years. A number of other production companies both with and without licenses from the play's owner, Charles Albert Shaw, also did the play.

Each year the play would cut a swath through a territory and play at local theaters from week to week. The actors would generally stay the same for a season but frequently there would be changes from season to season. This was also true of the script which would be changed sometimes based on the region where the play was being held. Musical scores were changed as well.

I have seen posters, broadsides, banners, cards and numerous other types of material which advertised the upcoming play in an area. The large full color posters are perhaps the nicest Peck's ephemera . These posters which were produced by the Enterprise Lithograph Company from Cleveland are very difficult to find in decent shape.

I thought I would show some of this ephemera here today.

Porter and Coates Calendar trade card 1880

2010-08-04T15:02:00.003-05:00

Here is an interesting little advertising calendar trade card. Porter and Coates has been discussed perviously on June 7, 2009 when a stereoview card of the interior of its store was reviewed.

Here is an advertising piece from 1880. It is my belief that calendar advertisements were frequently used by publishers (and other businesses) in this era. The trick is just to find them.

Jas. B. Smith Advertising Cover-Philadelphia

2010-07-22T00:58:00.000-05:00

Jas. B. Smith & Co. was established in 1837. It published reprints of classics in addition to Bibles. It seems its main concentration was the manufacture of blank books. This is noted in the advertisement included here which was published in 1867 in Freedley's Philadelphia and its Manufactures; A Hand-Book of the Great Manufacturies.

Smith's company was at the South Seventh Street address for many years beginning as early as 1860. Here is a very scarce advertising cover which shows a nice picture of Smith's building.

It is interesting to me (and maybe only me) how at the time these publishing companies sent out their statements and advertising propaganda within envelopes like this one, it probably would have been difficult to know which company would end up being well known in collectors' circles a century later and which would have been relegated to the scrap heap. I guess you just never know.

Lothrop Advertising Calendar

2010-07-20T01:30:00.000-05:00

Here is a great calendar broadside advertisement for D. Lothrop & Co. The ad mentions three of Lothrop's magazines: Babyland, Wide Awake and the Little Folks' Reader.

Interestingly the entire 12 months of the year are shown on the one page of the ad with little vignettes of children for each month. What the ad does not reveal is what year it is for. Nowhere on the face of the ad id the year stated. Pretty bizarre, huh.

So what year is the ad for. There are a few hints.

D. Lothrop & Co. was in business from 1868-1887. After that the name was changed to D. Lothrop Co. On the calendar January 1rst is on a Saturday. That happened in 1870,1876, 1881, and 1887.

We can eliminate 1870 as the year because the Wide Awake magazine was introduced in 1874.
The Little Folks' Reader was initially started in 1880 so 1876 can also be eliminated as the year in question. By 1883 the periodical Wide Awake had a yearly subscription rate of $2.50. But in 1881 the yearly price was $2.00 just like on the ad.

Thus, this ad is for 1881.

Advertising Cover for A.J. Holman & Co.

2010-07-18T01:29:00.000-05:00

The picture above is an advertising cover for A.J. Holman & Co. This cover is especially nice because it has a picture of the Holman building in Philadelphia and is dated (January 14, 1891).

A. J. Holman was an extremely prolific publisher of Bibles in the 19th century. In the 1850's Holman was employed by Jesper Harding, another huge Bible publishing house, as a superintendent of the manufacture of Bibles. In 1872 he began his own publishing firm which as the cover notes specialized in Bibles, and photographic albums.

Holman competed directly at that time with his former employer, Jesper Harding. In 1883 one of Holman's trusted copartners , Captain J. Parker Martin, left Holman to take over as manager of the Henry Altemus Bible production department. The similarity between the new Altemus Bibles and the Holman Bibles was quite startling. See: http://henryaltemus.com/bibles/bibles.htm .

As the years went on into the 20th century Holman continued to be one of the major Bible publishers.

Holman was still at this address in this building into the middle of the 20th century.

Harper and Brothers Advertising Calendar August 1886

2010-07-16T01:30:00.001-05:00

Here is a great little item. Harper and Brothers is one of the really long-lived publishers. Beginning as J. & J. Harper in 1817 and evolving into Harper and Brothers in 1833 it was one of the major 19th century publishers. Harper's Weekly was a hugely popular periodical especially during the Civil War.

This little calendar from August, 1886 advertises a number of books published by Harper. Most publishers produced these little advertising pieces in this era. They are not too easy to find however.

Stratemeyer Advertising Pamphlet from LL&S

2010-07-14T09:23:00.006-05:00

Today I wanted to present a great advertising pamphlet from Lothrop, Lee and Shepard.

In my experience pamphlets which advertise juvenile series books are quite uncommon. Clearly a one page or an accordion-like ad is much easier and certainly much cheaper to produce. This 64 page pamphlet is a vehicle for promoting Edward Stratemeyer's juvenile books.

Not only are there excerpts from some of Stratemeyer's books here but there are also numerous ads with book pictures from his various series.

The series noted are:
Dave Porter Series-Volumes 1-3
Pan-American Series
Old Glory Series
Soldiers of Fortune Series
Colonial Series
American Boys' Biographical Series
The Stratemeyer Popular Series (12 volumes)

Excerpts are presented from:
Dave Porter at Oak Hall (Dave Porter Series)
Defending His Flag
Lost on the Orinoco (Pan American Series)
Under Dewey at Manila (Old Glory Series)
Under the Mikado's Flag (Soldier of Fortune Series)
With Washington in the West (Colonial Series)

Also included in this pamphlet are numerous illustrations from the books themselves.

I believe this pamphlet dates from 1907. Both Dave Porter's Return to School and Defending His Flag were published in that year. There are no later books noted.

Altemus Advertising Calendar 1880

2010-06-26T12:14:00.004-05:00

This little advertising calendar (3.875 x 2.375) from 1880 from Altemus & Co. points out the company's ability to manufacture whatever type of book the client wanted. At this time Altemus had not been routinely publishing reading books on its own imprint. Bibles, photographic albums and scrapbooks were the mainstay of their own imprint's publishing business but Altemus was very busy publishing for the needs of others.

Advertising Cover-The American Garden

2010-01-05T00:30:00.000-06:00

There really is no end to publishing and book/author related ephemera. I thought with the new year I would expand the blog a bit and show some items that are not necessarily related to children's literature.

Here is an advertising cover for a magazine called "The American Garden". This magazine was first published with this name in 1873. Its first iteration was as "Flower Garden" from which it evolved. This journal was bought by Beach, Son and Company which was a seed and bulb dealer. At first it was a quarterly but in 1882 it became a monthly. At that point it went on a popularity roll. It acquired Ladies' Floral Cabinet in 1887. In 1888 it took over The Gardener's Monthly and The Horticulturist. In 1892 it changed its name to American Gardening. After a successful run it stopped publication in 1904.

Of course, for those of you up north you have plenty of time to find some old bound copies of these journals and begin to prepare for your planting season in the months to come.

Estes and Lauriat -Laura E. Edwards Advertising Flyer

2010-01-03T09:47:00.004-06:00

Here is a great advertising flyer (3.75 x 5.25) for several Laura E. Richards' books. It is dated in 1881. This piece from the Estes and Lauriat publishing house is very similar to others of this same era I have seen from this house. (For the ZigZag books, Knockabout Books, and Travels by Ober.)

Laura E. Richards (1850-1943) was a prolific authoress of children's books. The most famous work was Captain January which was made into a film starring Shirley Temple. She was born in Boston. Her parents were Julia Ward Howe, a very well known writer and author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, the managing director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind.

She was married in 1871 to Henry Richards who was still her husband at the time of her death. Her works initially were penned to help with the family finances. Her first work was jingles published by St. Nicholas (magazine). Her first book was Five Little Mice in a Mouse Trap published by Estes and Lauriat in 1880. Although the vast majority of her work was for children, she also wrote several biographies. Her autobiography "Stepping Westward" was published in 1931.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2009-12-25T00:04:00.001-06:00

Today I thought I would show some holiday book covers from various Henry Altemus publications.

Have a great holiday season!!

Gusky's Store and a Henry Altemus Publication

2009-12-23T15:03:00.002-06:00

The four volume Shakespeare non series set was first published by Henry Altemus in 1891. Interestingly this set has been discovered with the Gusky Store of Pittsburgh imprint on the title page and Henry Altemus 1891 on the copyright page. With the exception of the imprint and the elegantly decorated end papers in the Altemus book, the four volume Altemus set is identical to the four volume Gusky set. It would appear that Altemus published this set for Gusky to sell in his store. Although I have seen some non-Altemus advertising in several other Altemus books, I have never seen a book that Altemus published for a department store. This is especially interesting considering that the Gusky set potentially could compete with the Altemus set. It is unclear at this time exactly what year the Gusky set was published (I assume in the early 1890’s) and what sort of deal the Gusky Store and Altemus had. Of note is that there are no books with the Gusky imprint listed for sale anywhere that I can find on the web.

J.M. Gusky (1845-1886) bought out a mercantile establishment called S. Cohen in 1882. He renamed it the Gusky Store. The Gusky Store is considered by most to be Pittsburgh’s first department store. The store occupied five stories and sold mainly a variety clothing. After Gusky’s death from pneumonia his wife owned the business and the De Wolf brothers managed it. By 1888 it had more than two million dollars in sales.

Dotty Dimple Series Boxed Set

2009-12-06T00:03:00.001-06:00

A previous post on 10/16/2009 reviewed a Lee and Shepard boxed set of the Dotty Dimple Series. The set shown at that time was dated from 1876. The box had nice illustrations and decorations on the appliques on the top and the side. The box was glued together.

Today I have an interesting contrast. Here is a boxed set of the same series. The books are all dated with the last one having 1870 on the title page. Thus this set most likely dates from that year. There are no ads from any later books. The box as compared to the box from 1876 is quite plain with appliques which just list the books. In addition the sides and bottom of the box are stitched together-not glued. This is an interesting distinction.

Although I am far from an expert on this, I wonder if a new process for making the boxes became common and cheap enough for general use during the 1870's. So the stitching was phased out

Oliver Optic Magazine Broadside 1871

2009-12-04T00:09:00.000-06:00

I thought I would stay on the same subject as the last post. 19th century advertising broadsides from book publishers are quite unusual. Here is a wonderful example of one that advertises Oliver Optic's Magazine in 1871. This item is 25" by 20".

It probably was printed around the time of the magazine that it mentions--i.e. January of 1871. For interest I have included a picture of the January, 1871 Oliver Optic's magazine.

Lee and Shepard Advertising Cover

2009-12-02T00:02:00.000-06:00

Here is a great advertising cover on which Lee and Shepard advertised Oliver Optic's Magazine. Although the date is not noted anywhere on the envelope, Lee and Shepard was located on Franklin Street from 1874 to 1885. Since Oliver Optic's Magazine was discontinued in 1875, this cover is from 1874 or 1875.

Oliver Optic (William T. Adams) was a prolific author of children's/juvenile books in the second half of the 19th century. In addition to his books he also was associated with children's periodicals. He edited Student and SchoolMate starting in the 1858 and later in 1867 he became the editor of Oliver Optic's Magazine.

Advertising Cover- Webster's Dictionary-1880's

2009-11-30T00:21:00.000-06:00

Here is a great advertising cover for Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. The front and back of the envelope utilize almost all of the space not necessary for an address. In addition a flyer was found within the envelope with a price list for various editions.

It is an interesting project to date this item.
Key points in the ad that I worked from were
1. The number of words in the dictionary-118,000
2. Number of state superintendents recommending it-36
3. It is unabridged not international

In 1880 the number of words in the ads was noted to be 118,000. But other 1880-1881 ads note that only 35 state superintendents recommended this dictionary. In a June, 1882 ad in Literary World the number of superintendents is 36.

In 1890 the Unabridged Dictionary was revised and enlarged to become the International Dictionary.

Thus, I believe the date of this item is between 1892 and 1889.

Elmer Gregor and his juvenile series

2009-11-28T00:28:00.000-06:00

The author Elmer Gregor (1870-1954) wrote a number of children's booksabout Indians and the frontier. Included in his output were four juvenile series that are listed in Mattson's bibliography. He was a world class ornithologist. He was one of the founders of the the Buckskin Men of America which was a predecessor of the Boy Scouts.

His series books were published by Appleton and Harpers. Even though they were quite popular and reprinted a number of times, they are still on the somewhat scarce side.

The four series are:

1. Camp Life Series- Harper and Bros. 1912-1913
2. Eastern Indian Series- Appleton 1918-1930
3. Jim Mason Series- Appleton 1923-1928
4. Western Indian Series- Appleton 1917-1927

Here is a nice inscription found in White Otter which is a book from the Western Indian Series. In the next blog entry I will review that series.

Dick Arnold Series by Earl Reed Silvers

2009-11-26T00:18:00.000-06:00

Today's series is the Dick Arnold Series This three book series was written by Earl Reed Silvers and published by Appleton. These books highlight the life and athletic adventures of our here-Dick Arnold-at the fictional Raritan College. The stories of his athletic prowess are quite entertaining. I especially was interested in some of the times run by the athletes. In Dick Arnold of the Varsity, Dick runs a mile in 4:21. Now, of course, most decent high school boys can beat that but in 1921 that time was really good.

These books are quite uncommon. Appleton did not have high volume print runs. I remember a researcher found that the 1922 Andy Blake juvenile book had less than 1000 copies leave the factory. Although possibly overreaching, I am of the mind that most all of the Appleton juvenile series books of the early 1920's had similar low print runs. That makes these series very hard to find with or without jackets. That also accounts for dealers' high prices.

Earl Reed Silvers was an educator as well as a relatively prolific author. He was born in New Jersey, educated at Rutgers University and went on to become the Dean of Men at his alma mater. He died from a heart attack at the age of 57 in 1948. He wrote more than 25 juvenile books for boys as well as over a 1000 short stories.

His book for boys frequently revolved around college life and athletics. This is understandable as Silvers was a great athlete at Rutgers starring in track, baseball basketball and football.

He wrote five juvenile series (including this one) listed in Mattson's guide. He also wrote the Carol Series which is about a girl in camp and high school. All of these series were published by Appleton and thus are relatively scarce.

This series was reprinted by Appleton-Century

The Dick Arnold Series
1. Dick Arnold of Raritan College 1920
2. Dick Arnold Plays the Game 1920
3. Dick Arnold Plays the Game 1921

Unknown Series

2009-11-25T00:16:00.000-06:00

Here is the cover applique for a juvenile series.

Today's hints:
1900-1930
Author was the dean of men at a well known university.

Dick Series by A.W. Dimock

2009-11-24T00:53:00.002-06:00

The Dick Series by A.W. Stokes is a four book series written by A.W. Dimock. In many respects it can be considered a companion series to the Jack Series also published by F.A. Stokes. Both series involved adventures of boys in the wild.

This four book series chronicles the adventures of Dick and his buddy Ned in different outdoor scenarios. The title of the book tells of the adventure. The books have photographs done by Dimock.

Anthony Weston Dimock (1842-1918) was an interesting fellow. Well educated at Phillips Academy and George Washington University, he made a fortune in the gold market while working on Wall Street. He subsequently spent time in the West with ranchers and Indians and later was a real estate developer in Elizabeth. New Jersey. He wrote a number of books including Florida Enchantments and this series.

The great stories about Dimock include how he made and lost millions several times. In the 1860's he had invested heavily in Pacific Mail stock . The company went down the toilet so fast that it broke Dimock. Subsequently he remade his fortune in real estate in New Jersey. The financial crash of 1872 wiped him out for the second time. At the age of 41 after making another fortune on Wall Street his investments failed him during "financial disturbances"in 1884.

He was living the good life in 1894 even in significant debt in Kingston, New York when he and his family were served with papers. Dimock was forcibly removed from a rental house with his furniture and family during a rainstorm.

The Dick Series
1. Dick in the Everglades 1909
2. Dick Among the Lumberjacks 1910
3. Dick Among the Seminoles 1911
4. Dick Among the Miners 1911

Unknown Series

2009-11-23T00:49:00.000-06:00

Here is an unknown cover for a series that will be reviewed tomorrow.
It amazes me how many fish related covers there are on series books.

Hints.

1880-1930 series.
Author made a fortune in the gold market in the 19th century.

Advertising Cover for the Lothrop Publishing House.

2009-11-22T00:17:00.000-06:00

I have shown a number of advertising covers over the past few weeks. Here is a very special one. The Lothrop Publishing Company was one oif the most prolific publishers of childrens' book in the late 19th century. Their magazines for children and juveniles were also very big sellers. These magazines have been noted before. Here is a great advertising cover.

Of course, what makes it a bit unusual is that all the advertising is on the back of the envelope. Four of Lothrop's magazines are noted here. The Pansy, Wide Awake , Babyland and Our Little Men and Women.

I thought you might enjoy seeing this cover.

Jack Heaton Series by E. Frederick Collins

2009-11-20T00:01:00.002-06:00

The Publisher Frederick A. Stokes did not print many juvenile series books. Mattson's guide only lists two series. Here is one of them: The Jack Heaton Series.

The Jack Heaton Series is a three book series published between 1919-1921. Jack Heaton encounters mysteries and adventures in the Yukon, Mexico, Oil fields, and with submarines. The books have numerous glossy ilustrations by different artists-Owen, Morgan Dennis and Charles E. Cartwright. Typical well constructed books by Stokes.

The author A. (Archie) Frederick Collins (1869-1952) was more well known as an inventor and engineer than as a writer. He wrote the Radio Amateur's Handbook which is still in print in an 80 plus edition.He invented a form of a wireless telephone in 1899. With his inventions he founded the Collins Wireless Telephone Company. The history of this inventionj is quite fascinating. Read here for more:
http://www.sparkmuseum.com/COLLINS.HTM

In a blast from the future, Collins partnered with some businessmen to help take his company public. Unfortunately he was indicted and convicted for using the mails to defraud in selling worthless stock. Apparently claims were made by some of his partners that calls could be made in a similar way to cellular phones of today.
Collins spent one year (1913)of his three year prison sentence incarcerated.

After his release he wrote numerous books including the series noted here.

Here are the books:

1. Jack Heaton, Wireless Operator 1919
2. Jack Heaton, Oil Prospector 1920
3. Jack Heaton, Gold Seeker 1921

The Deer Lodge Series by W. Gordon Parker

2009-11-18T00:24:00.001-06:00

The great outdoors was a popular theme for juvenile series books in the late 19th and early 20th century. This three book series is a good example. The Deer Lodge Series was published by Lee and Shepard and written by W. Gordon Parker.

The stories follow Grant Burton, Perry Langdon and their buddies on various outdoor adventures. Hunting, fishing, and water sports are just some of the highlights. "The Boys are manly, honest and of good principle". The books have one glossy picture, the frontispiece, and numerous other line drawn illustrations.
The line drawn illustrations as well as the frontispieces were done by Parker himself.

The three books were copyrighted between 1898 and 1900. Although I am showing only covers here today, based on the previous patterns of Lee and Shepard, the books did originally come with dust jackets.

W. Gordon Parker was an author as well as a ranked tennis player as a young man. He shot himself through the heart with a pistol at his home in Charlevoix, Michigan in 1928

The Books:
1. Six Young Hunters; or, The Adventures of the Greyhound Club 1898
2. Grant Burton, the Runaway; or, The Mishaps of a Schoolboy 1899
3. Rival Boy Sportsmen; or, The Mink Lake Regatta 1900

Unknown Series Book

2009-11-18T00:12:00.001-06:00

Here is another unknown series book. The series will be reviewed on 11/20/2009.
Here are the hints.
1. Series book published between 1880-1930. (Bad clue)
2. Author spent a year in prison because of stock fraud. (Great Clue)

Franconia Series-Boxed Set- Harper and Brothers

2009-11-16T00:35:00.000-06:00

The Franconia Series second editions were published by Harper and Brothers in the early 1880's.
Here is the boxed set for this edition. Unfortunately I do not have the box top. The side of the box doies however have the book label.

19th century series most often were published at one time by their publishers in boxed sets. This is a nice example

Unkown Series Book

2009-11-15T00:32:00.000-06:00

Here is a another unknown series book. It dates between 1880-1930. How's this for a hint. The author shot himself . You need another hint. OK. The author did all the illustrations for the series.

Franconia Series by Jacob Abbott

2009-11-14T00:03:00.000-06:00

As has been noted before, Jacob Abbott was an incredibly prolific author juveniles in the 19th century. The ten volume Franconia Series was one of his series.

These moralistic stories revolve around Beechnut. He is a youngster from Switzerland who lives in the White Mountains and interacts with the other characters in the series.

The books as noted here were initially published in the 1850's by Harper and Brothers. As opposed to many of the other Abbott books , these stories were only published by Harper and Brothers (in the US), Allman published the English editions.

1. Malleville 1850
2. Mary Bell 1850
3. Ellen Linn 1852
4. Wallace 1850
5. Beechnut 1850
6. Stuvyesant 1853
7. Agnes 1853
8. Mary Erskine 1850
9. Rodolphus 1852
10. Caroline 1853

Later between 1878 and 1881 the books were reprinted by Harpers. At that time there were only 5 Franconia books. Each new book had two of the early books combined into one volume. They were as follows.

Beechnut/Rodolphus
Ellen Linn/Stuyvesant
Caroline/Agnes
Malleville/Wallace
Mary Erskine/Mary Bell

Two late editions were published by Harper and Brothers. The green book with the peripheral cover decoration was published in the early 1900's. The books with the reading boy was also published in the early 1900's but the books of this format had only one Franconia book within it as opposed to the two story books.

The Boys' Story of the Railroad Series by Burton E. Stevenson

2009-11-12T00:37:00.000-06:00

The Boys' Story of the Railroad Series is a four book series that was first published between 1905 and 1912. The books were reprinted into the 1930's. The stories involve teenagers working in and around the railroad. Each book contains six or seven glossy illustrations done by either John Goss, L.J. Bridgman or A.P. Button.

The author Burton E. Stevenson (1872-1962) wrote more than forty books in addition to these juveniles. As a youngster he published a monthly newspaper called The Boy's Own continuously for five years. Besides writing Stevenson was quite accomplished. He was the director of Library War Service with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. He also founded the American Library in Paris. He died at the age of 89 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Stevenson's Railrroad series was published by L. C. Page and Compnay.
L.C. Page & Company published a number of juvenile series in the twentieth century. Mattson's guide lists 11 series and there are a number of others, mostly nonfiction, that were published also. Page succeeded Joseph Knight in 1897. In 1914 Page supplemented its list when it bout the plates of the Dana Estes Company. The Page books are generally oversized and well made. Probably the best known of its publications were the Little Colonel Series written by Annie Fellows Johnston.

The Books:
1.The Young Section Hand 1905
2. The Train Dispatcher 1907
3. The Young Train Master 1909
4. The Young Apprentice 1912

The Barrows Brothers Series by Jack Bechdolt

2009-11-10T00:12:00.000-06:00

John Ernest Bechdolt (1884–1954) was mainly known as a short story writer and as a newspaperman. He wrote more than 6000 short stories. In addition to the Barrows Brothers Series noted here, he wrote with the collaboration of his wife the Dulcie Series. His output included a number of science fiction stories including a Lost race story included in the Barrows Brothers Series He worked for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. A number of his short stories were produce as movies.

The Barrow Brothers Series is a five book series published in 1931 by Cosmopolitan Book Corporation. The books center around Bob and Paul Barrow and their adventures in various locales such as the Arctic and Mexico. These books were well written and are among the more entertaining stories written as juvenile series in their era. Relatively hard to find in dust jacket.

The books.

1. Hidden Waters
2. Frozen Treasure
3. The Race of the Rails
4. Jungle Diamonds
5. Lost Vikings

More Boxed Books-H.M. Caldwell

2009-11-08T00:08:00.000-06:00

Most boxed individual books are rather ordinary where the labeled box contains a box that neatly fills up the box. Of course, some boxes themselves have elaborate designs and illustrations. Today I thought I would show an individual boxed book which is on the bizarre side.

As some of you may know, I am slowly working toward putting together a history and bibliography of the H.M. Caldwell publishing house. I hope to complete it before I keel over. It will take the same format as my henryaltemus.com website.

Anyway here is a Caldwell book. The box has a labeled flap but otherwise is quite plain. It measures 9.5 x 5.

The box inside however is quite unusual. It is Over the Nuts and Wine written by James Clarence Harvey. It was published in 1906. Look at its shape. It is a 3D representation of a bottle of wine within an ice bucket. The original glassine dust jacket was found within the box. This 134 page book has a different "toast" on each page.

Quite an interesting boxed book.

More Boxed Books- Grosset and Dunlap

2009-11-06T00:24:00.001-06:00

Boxed books come in all shapes and sizes. From sets of multiple books to singly boxed books, there are a myriad of styles, shapes and varieties.

Today's box is somewhat unusual. This two book box is from the publisher Grosset and Dunlap. The jacketed books within the box are Puss-In-Boots and the Man in the Moon and Puss-In-Boots and Robinson Crusoe. Originally published by Harpers in the 1920's , they now are part of the Puss-In-Boots, Jr. Series written by David Cory author of The Little Jack Rabbit Stories, Little Journeys to Happyland and many others.

The box is labeled with nice illustrative pictures on the cover and sides. What makes this box somewhat unusual are the two wooden Puss-In-Boots figurines inserted into the box. These are well made models. I suspect 1930's publication date but I am unsure. This box would have appealed to kids and I suspect was instrumental in improving sales.

This is another example of what probably is a very large number of unusual boxed books variants.

The Young Alaskans by Emerson Hough

2009-11-04T00:10:00.003-06:00

The Young Alaskans is a relatively uncommon five book series published by Harper and Brothers. These books were initially published between 1908 and 1922 and subsequently were reprinted numerous times. Harper and Brothers was not a major publisher of juvenile series books with only twelve series by this house noted in Mattson's guide. The stories chronicle the outdoor adventures of three Alaskan boys.

1. The Young Alaskans 1908
2. Y.A. on the Trail 1911
3. Y.A. in the Rockies 1913
4. Y.A. in the Far North 1918
5. Y.A. on the Missouri 1922

If you have one of these books, dating it is really quite easily done because Harper used an alphabetical key. Up to 1911 the date appeared on the title page.

Thereafter each month was designated by a letter.
A=January M-December. J was not included in the month list.

A letter was used for each year:
M-1912
N-1913
etc....T-1919.....
Z-1925.....A-1926

Thus A-M would be January, 1912
B-N would be February, 1913

Emerson Hough (1857-1923) wrote this series as well as a number of other novels, most of which are westerns. He was a noted conservationist. He spent his early years in the frontier west. Later he graduated from the University of Iowa. Although trained as an attorney, he spent many years exploring and traveling throughout the west. At the age of forty he wrote The Singing Mouse Stories and that launched his writing career. He died secondary to complications from a surgical procedure.

Did you figure out the unknown book covers?? I know the guy who claims to be our
resident fisherman did not come close. He was too embarrassed to make his guess in the
public comments. He will remain anonymous!!

Advertising Cover- Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard

2009-11-03T00:14:00.002-06:00

Advertising covers were a great way to promote a product in the 19th century. A number of envelopes have been seen with pictures of a publishing house's headquarters. Individual books are less often shown on envelopes. Here is a great example of the latter.

Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard is a book that pictures the various aspects of Army life during the Civil War. The subtitle is " How they lived and talked, and what they did and suffered while fighting for the flag". Reviews of the book noted that this book was one of the few that actually portrayed the daily life of the soldier. Despite the story being fictional, the anecdotes included here were very lifelike. Sales of the serialized novel exceeded all expectations.

It was written by Wilbur F. Hinman (1840-1905) who was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Ohio Regiment. He was born in Berea, Ohio. He attended Baldwin University prior to enlisting in the Union Army in 1861.

The publisher of the 1887 first edition was The Williams Publishing Company in Cleveland-not exactly a major house.

This is a great illustrated advertising cover featuring that book.

Unknown Series Books

2009-11-02T00:18:00.000-06:00

Here is another series unknown.

I have included two books because this one may be quite tough. You can sort of see the lettering at the top of one of the books. The only hint is that this is a juvenile series published between 1880-1940. Good luck.

Lothrop. Lee and Shepard- First Edition or Not

2009-11-01T00:41:00.000-05:00

Generally, if a book says copyright 1903 and on the same page it says -"published August, 1903" a reasonable deduction would be that the book is a 1903 book. Well, with Lothrop, Lee and Shepard series books the deduction may be reasonable but the conclusion may very well be wrong.

It appears that Lothrop, Lee and Shepard published numerous series books where this scenario is just the case.

Here are several examples. The first comes from a book by Albertus Dudley, Following the Ball. It is part of the Phillips Exeter Series. I have three copies of this book. Each of the covers is slightly different but the copyright pages are identical. It is shown here. Two of my copies were published by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. This instantly dates these books from 1905 or later. The third book has Lee and Shepard 1903 on the title page indicating this one is the true first. In addition the ads are different for all three. But to a person not knowing the history of the publishing house any of the three might be listed as a first edition.

You think not. Doubters please look at this ad taken today from ABE. In fact most of the books in this series are advertised as first editions on ABE although most likely
only a couple of them really are.

Following the Ball
Dudley, Albertus T.

Book Description: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, Boston, MA U.S,A, 1903. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Good+. No Jacket. Charles Copeland (illustrator). First Edition. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Gray cloth, gilt lettering, blue red and black decoration of boys playing football, frontis repeats cover graphics w 3 additional b&w illustrations, mild cover soils and ink along board edges, worn football decoration on spine, spine somewhat rolled, minimum of library artifacts (catalog number on copyright page, book infor on rep and small stampon rear cover, 316 plus 6 pp. advertisements.

Here is another example. This one comes from the Rolt-Wheeler U. S. Service Series. Both of my copies of The Boy with the U.S. Life savers have the published August, 1915 date on their copyright page. Yet one has ads that go to the previously published book in 1914 whereas the ads in the other book go to the penultimate book in the series published in 1927. Again the latter book could be easy to mistake for a first edition if the seller is unfamiliar with the series.

I have seen this pattern with numerous Lothrop, Lee and Shepard series books including those written by Stratemeyer, Tomlinson, etc.

The buyer/collector needs to study the ads before determining the edition.

Rust Craft Shop Book Plates

2009-10-31T00:22:00.000-05:00

The Rust Craft Shop was discussed in a September 27, 2009 blog. At the time it was noted that they produced a number of paper products including book plates.

Here is an example of this shop's work. Clearly not very elegant, these book plates are rather standard fare. Twenty five book plates are included in the box. I do not know the original price but clearly they are on the cheap end.

Edward Sylvester Ellis

2009-10-30T00:52:00.000-05:00

In the field of series books Edward Sylvester Ellis (1840-1916) was certainly one of the most prolific authors I have encountered. Besides writing more than 150 books for juveniles-most of which were in series form- he wrote several hundred other works -historical, nonfiction, dime novels etc.

Denis R. Rogers assembled a several hundred page manuscript years ago which to the best of my knowledge was never published. It includes sections on his dime novels , pseudonyms, works (both major and minor) and other pertinent items about Edward Ellis. I have yet to see a more comprehensive work on any juvenile author from this ear (mid-19th-mid-20th century).

Here are some details about Ellis' life. These come from Rogers' work. He was born in 1840 in Geneva, Ohio. Clearly his family moved during his youth since he graduated from New Jersey Normal School in Trenton in about 1860. He began his career as a school teacher in Red bank, New Jersey. After early success, in particular as a dime novel writer, he gave up teaching to become a full time writer. This was in 1874.

In addition to the books Ellis wrote for motion pictures and also penned several musicals.

HIs juvenile books were published by a virtual who's who of publishing houses. Although Porter and Coates was a mainstay, numerous others published his first and later editions-Price-McGill, Merriam, Cassell, Dana Estes,Hurst, George M. Hill and many many more.

I will be reviewing some of his series as time goes on.

Book Corner Protectors

2009-10-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

Book corner protectors are a rare find. Today I am showing two different ones.

The first I took off a Wanamaker published book. This book was published as part of the Wanamaker's Young People's Library and was published in the 1902-1910 era.

The second book corner protector is the more interesting. It is from an unknown Lee and Shepard book. Thus it was produced before 1905. It looks to me like it was hand stamped. What I mean is that Lee and Shepard probably bought blank protectors and then stamped them individually. On the Lee and Shepard item there is a line that says Pat Mar 26,1895 Worchester, Mass. Therefore the production of this item is narrowed down to the years between 1895-1905.

What intrigues me more about these items is when they were used. Clearly the corner protectors are too cumbersome to have been used with jacketed or boxed books. This must mean that some books that came from the publisher did not have jackets (or boxes). This is contrary to my conjecture that all books of this era originally were boxed or had dust jackets. Indeed there must have been a subset that came with the book corner protectors only.
Hopefully we can learn more about these items and see more examples as time goes on.

Wonder of War Series by Francis Rolt-Wheeler

2009-10-28T00:16:00.000-05:00

Francis Rolt-Wheeler has been discussed before. He wrote three series that were published by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. Here is the Wonder of War Series. This four book series was first published between 1917 and 1919 and reprinted for a number of years thereafter.

The books were illustrated with numerous photographs. These well made books were typical of the better bound series books done by this publishing house. Each book in this series described a different aspect of the "Great War"-World War I.

They are not too common but with a decent effort all four can be found in dust jackets. I would rate their scarcity at about the same level as the earlier U.S. Service Series by Rolt-Wheeler. They are not as rare as the Museum Series books that he penned.

The books:
1. The Wonder of War in the Air 1917
2. The Wonder of War on Land 1918
3. The Wonder of War at Sea 1919
4. The Wonder of War in the Holy Land 1919

George Washington Hood- Cover designer

2009-10-27T00:15:00.002-05:00

George Washington Hood designed the book cover on the Deering of Deal book shown a few days ago.

If you look at the fence post that the boy has his left hand on, you can see the initials GH.

George Washington Hood (1869-1949) was an illustrator and a painter who designed a number of covers in the first and second decade of the twentieth century. He attended the National Academy of design and lived in New Jersey. Although he was known as a children's book illustrator, he also sold paintings done in watercolor and oils.

Unknown Book

2009-10-26T04:04:00.000-05:00

Here is another unknown. This book was published between 1880 and 1940.
It is part of a juvenile series. No other hints. Answer to be shown on 10/28. Good luck.

The Baron Trump Series by Ingersoll Lockwood

2009-10-25T00:54:00.000-05:00

The Baron Trump books were a four volume series published by Lee and Shepard. The books detail marvelous fantasy adventures of Baron Trump and others. Great line drawn illustrations are seen throughout the books which were also called Ingersoll Lockwood's Wonder Books. You have to wonder if L. Frank Baum helped himself to some of the ideas here for his Oz books.

1. The Travels and Adventures of Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulger 1889
2. The Extraordinary Experiences of Little Captain Dopplekop on the Shores of Bubblehead 1891
3. The Wonderful Deed and Doings of Little Giant Boab and His Talking Raven Tabib 1891
4. Baron Trump's Marvelous Underground Journey 1892

Ingersoll Lockwood (1841-1918) was the author of this series. He was better known however as a New York City attorney. Interesting enough his most notorious case appeared to involve the estate of a Mrs. Todd. This case revolved around whether the old lady in question had died naturally or was poisoned and if Lockwood should be the executor of the estate. Details about this inquiry appeared frequently in the New York Times over a number of months in 1905. After investigations and an autopsy it was determined she was poisoned. Great 1905 CSI stuff.

For dime novel interest the brother-in-law of Mrs. Todd's daughter was Sinclair Tousey. Tousey was the brother of Frank Tousey and a partner of his in the Frank Tousey Publishing Company. Small world, huh.

River and Wilderness Series By Edward Ellis

2009-10-24T00:28:00.000-05:00

The River and Wilderness Series was a three book series published in 1893 . It was written by prolific author Edward Ellis. (Blog about Ellis coming in the next couple of days).Initially published by Price-McGill, it was later reprinted by Merriam Company, Henry T. Coates and Winston. The Coates book was part of its multiauthored Roundabout Series. The stories are about Indians and the frontier.

1. The River Fugitives 1893
2. The Wilderness Fugitives 1893
3. Lena Wingo 1893

The Price-McGill Company was one of the publishing houses that if you blinked, you missed it. Of course, I suppose not being in a mecca of publishing probably did not help this firm much. They were located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Price-McGill Company was founded in 1891. It was succeeded by the Merriam Company in January of 1894. So it had a two year active window. During this period it did publish a number of juvenile books including the River and Wilderness Series (as noted here) and the War Whoop Series by Lieut. R. Jayne (an Ellis pseudonym).

Frank Merriwell Comics

2009-10-23T00:17:00.001-05:00

Every now and then a series book character will make a leap into another form of entertainment. The movies are probably one of the most common. Another modality is the comics. We have previously discussed Frank Merriwell. Of course in addition to being a dime novel hero, Merriwell appeared in his own juvenile series published by Street and Smith, Federal, and McKay. The former two publishers' series have been reviewed.

Merriwell , of course, appeared in movies, plays, radio, etc. I thought I would show some examples of his comic book adventures.

In 1940 Street and Smith published "Shadow Comics". A number of characters beside the Shadow were featured in these books. Bill Barnes, Doc Savage, and Frank Merriwell.
Merriwell excited us for four issues.

He had his own comic in 1955. It lasted four issues and was called Frank Merriwell at Yale. It was published by the Charlton Comics Group.

Certainly one of the major heroes of an era since past.

The Magnet Stories by Lynde Palmer

2009-10-22T00:50:00.000-05:00

This book is published by HB Nims in 1877

The Magnet Series is a four book series written by Lynde Palmer ( Mary Louise Parmalee Peebles 1833-1915). Peebles authored a number of books mainly religious/moralistic and temperance tales. She was born in Lansingburg, New York and graduated from the Lansingburg Academy in 1850.

This series is another one that shows the evolution of publishing houses in the 19th century. The first 3 books in the series were published by Moore and Nims. This Troy, New York publishing house. Moore and Nims begun in 1858 was preceded by Merriam, Moore and Co. and succeeded by H.B. Nims & Company in 1869. H.B. Nims was the first publisher of book #4.

Later HB Nims was succeeded by Nims and Knight in 1882. Finally Joseph Knight moved from Troy to Boston and formed his own company Joseph Knight in 1892.

Lynde Palmer's books were immensely popular. Nims reported sales of more than 100,000 of her books. This was a very large number for books of this ilk.

This book is a first edition published by Moore and Nims in 1868

Here is the series list:
1. Drifting and Steering 1867
2. One Day's Weaving 1867
3. Archie's Shadow 1868
4. John Jack 1870

In advertisements: "To show the ugliness of pride and the value and beauty of love".

Here is the publishing history
1. Moore and Nims-Volumes 1-3
2. H.B. Nims and Company- Volumes 1-4
3. Nims and Knight #1-4
4. Joseph Knight #1-4
5. Ward and Drummond #1-4

This book is an HB Nims book published in 1885.

Merry's Museum Subscription Receipt

2009-10-21T00:29:00.001-05:00

Children's and juvenile magazines of the 19th century were a great place for up and coming authors to get their starts. One of the key journals was Robert Merry's Museum. This journal which was published between 1841 and 1872 and is one of the best known of the era.

In a number of years Peter Parley (Samuel Griswold Goodrich) was an editor.
Here is a great bit of ephemera. This is a receipt for a subscription for 1856. The publisher as can be seen was S.T. Allen.

For more about juvenile periodicals of 19th century see: http://www.merrycoz.org/bib/intro.htm

The Bodley Books by Horace Scudder

2009-10-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

The Bodley Books are an interesting travelogue series of the 19th century. Written by Horace Scudder (1838-1902) a Boston native who was famous for his editorship of the Riverside Magazine for Young People, this group of books was divided into two separate series.

The first series tells of the Bodley family adventures beginning in 1848 and ending in 1852. The second series outlines the adventures of the Bodley grandchildren in the early 1880's.

The Bodley family originally however did not appear in book form but rather was introduced in the Riverside Magazine in 1867 .

Both series relate the history of the areas traveled in. The books are filled with illustrations taken from various non-original sources.

This travelogue series of eight books also illustrates how some publishing houses evolved as they changed name partners. Certain books in this series can be found with different imprints.

Hurd and Houghton was the first publisher of books #1 and #2. This house was active between 1864 and 1878. In 1878 it merged with James R. Osgood and Company to become Houghton, Osgood and Company. (They were the original publishers of books #3 and 4 for the In 1880 Houghton , Osgood and Co. was succeeded by Houghton, Miflin and Company which is still extant today. Houghton and Miflin published the first editions of Book #5 and the three books of the second series.

The books:
First Series
1. Doings of the Bodley Family in Town and Country-- 1875
2. The Bodley's Telling Stories-- 1877
3. The Bodleys on Wheels--1878
4. The Bodleys Afoot--1879
5. Mr. Bodley Abroad--1880

Second Series
1. The Bodley Grandchildren and Their Journey to Holland-- 1882
2. The English Bodley Family--1883
3. The Viking Bodleys --1884

The publishing history
Books #1, #2 Hurd and Houghton
Books #1-4 Houghton, Osgood and Company
All the books-Houghton, Miflin and Company

Deering Series by Latta Griswold

2009-10-19T00:18:00.000-05:00

The Deering Series is a set of five books that relate the adventures of boys/young men at prep school and college. The stories are well illustrated with numerous glossy pictures and were published by Macmillan. It was one of only three pre-1930 series listed in Mattson. The books of this series are very hard to find in dust jacket.

Latta Griswold (1876-1931) authored the series. Griswold attended the Princeton Theological Institute and graduated from the General Theological Seminary in New York in 1905. He was a rector at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox, Massachusetts at the time of his death. In 1926 he founded the Lenox School.

The Deering Series
1.Deering of Deal 1912
2. Deering at Princeton 1913
3. The Winds of Deal 1914
4. Deal Woods 1915
5. The Tides of Deal 1922

Unknown Book-Can you identify it??

2009-10-18T01:12:00.000-05:00

I thought I would occasionally give the one or two people who read this blog a challenge. Can you identify this book?

Here is the hint. It is a series book.
Ok maybe not much of a hint but I think a clever (very clever) person can figure it out.

Answer tomorrow.

Jacob Abbott and the Pseudonym Erodore

2009-10-18T00:19:00.001-05:00

Jacob Abbott has been mentioned previously. Although best known for his Rollo books, he authored numerous other series and single titles.

His early books from the 1820's and 1830's can be found easily today but the first editions of those titles are somewhat scarce. Not well known is that he wrote some titles early on using the pseudonyms of Erodore and Marianne. These books are seen rarely.

Apparently Abbott was teaching philosophy and mathematics at Amherst College when in 1924 he joined a secret literary society at the Andover Theological Seminary. A requirement at the Society was that each member create a palindromic pseudonym. Thus, Erodore was created. Using the Erodore name he wrote the book shown here.

For details about Abbott's "Erodore" books see A Bibliography of Jacob Abbott by Carl Weber.

Here is one of those very scarce Erodore books.

Ralph Henry Barbour Boxed Book

2009-10-17T00:04:00.000-05:00

In the last post I showed a nice boxed set of a series from the 1870's. Boxes are not just seen with series/sets. There are many other styles and formats of boxed books.
Today I thought I would show a box that has a book by a previously noted author: Ralph Henry Barbour.

Barbour wrote a number of romance novels in the early 1900's Most were published by Lippincott. Some Lippincott books have been seen with pictorial dust jackets , others boxed with glassine jackets.

Here is a nice example. Most often the box cover is similar but not an exact duplicate of the book cover.
You can see that here.
This book , My Lady of the Fog, was published in 1908.
On one of the flaps of the box the particulars about the book including the price is noted.

Dotty Dimple Series Boxed Set

2009-10-16T00:08:00.002-05:00

Everyone has their favorite collectibles. In the book world mine are 19th century boxed sets. That is not to say I have many of them but to me they are very special.
Lee and Shepard, one of the giants in juvenile series book publishing in that era, produced a boxed set for virtually every series they published. Initially the books would be published separately and then finally combined into a boxed set after the requisite number of books were done.

Here on the back of an advertising flyer for the Quinnebasset Series written by Sophie May is a great listing of a number of May's series with pictures of the boxed sets.

Pictured here is the a boxed set for the Dotty Dimple Series. The last of the six books in this series was published in 1870. All six of my books have 1876 on the title page. Thus this is a later set. I would have thought that Lee and Shepard only did one set per series. That is, each boxed set for this series published over a number of year period would have the same paste-on cover and side labels. Clearly I was mistaken.

Although the picture is small (even on the original), on the bottom left of the advertising flyer shown here is a picture of the Dotty Dimple box. The cover picture is different from the one seen on my box.

I think because of popularity and large publishing runs that the Lee and Shepard boxed sets are easier to find than other publisher's works.

Here are the six books of this series.
Dotty Dimple at Her Grandmother's 1868
DD at Home 1868
DD out West 1868
DD at Play 1869
DD at School 1869
DD's Flyaway 1870

George W. Peck Biography- Peck's Bad Boy Author

2009-10-15T00:40:00.003-05:00

George Wilbur Peck, writer, newspaper editor, politician and statesman was born in Henderson, Jefferson County, New York on September 28, 1840.

Pre War Years

Peck's family history has been well worked out going back to the early 1600's. His ancestors who settled in the Hartford, Connecticut area were originally from Essex, England. Later between 1803 and 1805 Peck's family moved to Jefferson County, New York where he was born. His parents, David B. Peck, a tavern keeper, and Alzenia Joslin Peck moved to Cold Spring, Wisconsin about 1843. It appears his paternal grandfather, Luman Peck also made the trip as he was buried in a Cold Spring cemetery in 1844. Peck had two siblings, Ann E. Peck and Chauncey E. Peck.

Details of his early years are poorly documented. The family moved to Whitewater in about 1843. George received his education in the Whitewater public schools in what was called the "Farmers' College the country school, located at the crossroads". His first job was at the Whitewater Register. The Register was established in March, 1857, thus Peck was 16. Later he was a foreman at the Watertown Republican where he worked for $3.50 per week.

In about 1860 he was a clerk in the Janesville hotel called the Hyatt House getting $25 per month. This elegant facility was completed in 1857 and burnt down in January, 1867. Although Peck notes in an autobiographical blurb that he left the employ of the hotel when it went broke in 1860, this is not in accord with the facts which reveals an ongoing business until 1867.

After leaving the hotel he married Francena Rowley of Delavan in 1860.

In early 1861 John W. Blake sold his interest in the Jefferson County Republican Newspaper to Peck and J.E. Atwater. Peck noted later that his half was "Putting my labor and influence against what my partner owed". Peck's partner was Robert Tompkins as of September 1861. In September 1863 Peck sold out and left for the war. At that point with new management the paper was renamed the Jefferson Banner.

Post War Years

Peck returned to Wisconsin in 1866 after service with the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry in the Civil War. During the war he rose to the rank of second lieutenant serving with both Company L and Company E.

Upon his return in 1866 he along with Jedediah Bowen as his editor began the weekly Ripon Representative. This newspaper was published in 1866 and 1867. The comic sketches of Terence McGrant were first published here. They were seen by Marcus "Brick" Pomeroy, a fellow Mason, who offered him a position to work at a new newspaper in New York-the Democrat as an editor/writer. The offer of $40 per week clearly difficult to turn down. Peck continued to write McGrant sketches in New York for the newspaper.

He worked with James H. Lambert at the New-York Democrat. James thereafter in 1871 published Peck's first book Adventures of One Terence McGrant. This book was a collation of the columns that Peck had written about McGrant. Interestingly there is an ad for the New-York Democrat newspaper within the book. It must have been very shortly thereafter that the paper's publication was stopped. Lambert went on to a career in the newspaper business becoming the managing editor of the Philadelphia Times. I can find no evidence that Lambert published any other books.

When the New-York Democrat failed, Peck returned to Wisconsin in August, 1871 to join the staff of Pomeroy's La Crosse newspaper- the La Crosse Democrat. The Pomeroy newspapers were conducted on "red-hot democratic principles". And despite their anti Republican leanings- Peck who voted for Lincoln in 1864 and Pomeroy worked well together.

Upon his return to La Crosse he worked as an editor for the Democrat with John Symes and Alfred E. Haven. Because of financial reverses Pomeroy sold out to Symes and Peck in 1872. The paper's name was changed then to the LaCrosse Liberal Democrat. They worked together until 1874 when Peck left to start his weekly newspaper "The Sun". Interestingly a number of years later in 1879 Swain published Peck's second book Peck's Fun under the Symes, Swain and Company, Milwaukee imprint. This publishing house was active from 1878 to 1892 at which time they were succeeded by Swain and Tate.

After four years in La Crosse the Sun was not doing well. A move to Milwaukee (the big city) for Peck's Sun was undertaken and the newspaper circulation boomed. Within a short time his weekly had attained a circulation of more than 100,000 by 1884. The popularity of his Weekly newspaper cannot be overstated. The population of Milwaukee was 138,000 at the time. The newspaper with the second highest circulation was the Germania at 50,000 weekly copies. He owned and edited Peck's Sun until 1890 when he handed over the reins to his son, George Peck, Jr. The newspaper was subsequently sold to the Dankolers who consolidated it with the Saturday Star and the South Milwaukee Star.

Peck operated his weekly Peck's Sun out of the five story Evening Wisconsin Building at the corner of Wisconsin and Michigan Streets. In the 1880's it was the youngest of the English language newspapers in Milwaukee but its popularity and growth was quite spectacular at the time. It had the latest perfecting press able to run at a capacity of 15,000 per hour.

During the 12 years that Peck ran the Sun in Milwaukee he wrote a series of stories about Hennery who subsequently became known as Peck's Bad Boy. These tales of the outlandish pranks and the various bits of insulting behavior toward all of society by the "Bad Boy" became immensely popular leading to the publication of a number of Peck's Bad Boy books beginning in 1883. Other books which were compilations of Peck's humorous columns also were published making George Peck a household name and his newspaper unbelievably popular.
Peck's Sun ad 1889

The inspiration for Hennery-the Bad Boy- came from E.J. Watson who was a telegraph messenger boy that Peck met in the early 1880's. Apparently Watson thought up many of the stories used by Peck. Mr Watson had in his possession a letter from Peck "To my friend E. J. Watson, who, as a boy, gave me the first idea that culminated in the Peck's Bad Boy Series". Interestingly, earlier in Peck's career he did not quite remember Watson and attributed the Bad Boy's earliest story to his son -- "Well, my son came in one day and told me a story about a boy.....That struck me as funny, and I wrote it up....".

By the 1890's comedy troupes (Mainly Atkinson's Comedy Company) were performing Peck's Bad Boy on stage all over the east and midwest. The Bad Boy went on to appear in three movies, was the subject of two board games, was featured in a number of comic books and was the the star of magic lantern slide shows at the theatre.

Although many found the exploits of Peck's Bad Boy humorous and generally good natured fun, this was by no means uniform. An editorial in February, 1884 New York Tribune stated "..are distressing examples of the crimes against good taste and decency that are committed in the name of American humor...." Certainly these stories were written at a time when a percentage of the population still clung dearly to Victorian mores, temperance, class distinctions and the like. All things that Peck made fun of in his stories.

Politics

Before Peck entered into significant public office, he had dabbled a bit with local politics. In 1867 he was the city treasurer in Ripon. While in La Crosse he was the Chief of Police in 1874. And in 1874-1875 he served as Chief Clerk of the Legislative Assembly as well as Assistant State Treasury Agent for Governor Taylor.

Peck ran for mayor in the Spring of 1890. With a majority of 6500 votes he won easily.

He resigned on November 11, 1890 to become the Governor of Wisconsin.

The Peck name had been a well known one in Milwaukee in the 1880's thanks to his newspaper's popularity. Even before the mayoral election of April, 1890 Peck had been a critic of the ideas behind the Bennett law which had been passed by the state legislature in 1889. This law had been promulgated by William Dempster Hoard who had been elected governor the year before . The key component of the bill required all schools that were recognized by the state of Wisconsin to teach the major subjects in English. This caused an uproar in those parochial schools that taught in German. This was profoundly opposed in Milwaukee, a city with a large German American population, many of whom were foreign born.

In addition to his opposition to the Bennett law, he was a vocal proponent for having Milwaukee be the site of the Grand Army Encampment in 1889. This event would bring a large sum of money into the city coffers by way of tourist dollars. His success with this in addition to his support for the repeal of the Bennett Law was crucial in securing the mayoral nomination for Peck in 1890.

The anti-Bennett Law contingent found a proponent in Mayor Peck and pushed through his nomination for Governor as the democratic candidate in August, 1891. A major plank of the democrats noted "The underlying principle of the Bennett Law is needless interference with parental rights and liberty of conscience..." He beat Governor Hoard by 28,000 votes garnering a total of 160,000. While governor in 1891 the Bennett Law was repealed.

He won a second term which ran from January 1893 to January 1895. He defeated John Spooner by less than 8000 votes out of the 348,000 cast. He lost to William Upham, a one term governor in 1895. His fate was similar to most Democratic candidates during that year's elections. He remained active in politics for awhile at least being elected Chairman of the State Central Committee by the Democrats in May, 1896.

A key accomplishment of his administration was the recovery of funds from previous state treasurers*. He instituted "Treasury Suits" against several former state treasurers to recover funds. It had been a common practice for the state treasurers to supplement their income with the interest from bank accounts which held state treasury money. Apparently the methodology was simple. "If there was a surplus above the daily needs of the state, it would be deposited in an interest bearing account. (Quite a change from nowadays-huh). At the end of the quarter a draft of the interest from these accounta would would be sent to treasurer in his or her name. The state prevailed in their lawsuits against the various treasurers.

* Wisconsin in Three Centuries by Henry Colin Campbell

A return effort as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee was a failure in 1905 when he lost to Robert M. LaFollette by 50,000 votes.

After leaving public office Peck campaigned to make cheese the national emblem. He asked, "What has the eagle ever done for America?"

And finally

After several years out of public service, in 1899 he reestablished Peck's Weekly Sun. He again took out office space in the Evening Wisconsin Building. This venture turned out to be short lived as he shuttered the paper on April 8, 1900. Peck stated "the cheapness and completeness of the modern daily newspaper and the low price of magazines have left no place for the weekly newspaper".

He continued to write books with Peck's Bad Boy in an Airship, Peck's Boy Boy Abroad, Peck's Bad Boy with the Cowboys and Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus being published in the twentieth century.

He also dabbled in real estate and business. In 1901 he was the President of the San Pedro Rubber Plantation Company of Milwaukee. This company which was incorporated in October, 1900 proposed to develop land in Mexico to produce rubber. In 1911 he became treasurer of a newly incorporated insurance company, Independence Life of America.

Peck was a life long Mason affiliated with Wisconsin Lodge No. 13.

He lived with his family in Milwaukee first at 1629 Prospect Avenue. In 1883 he resided a block over at 190 North Farwell Avenue (renumbered later to 1620-1629) in a rowhouse which he built.
Prospect Avenue

He died from Bright's disease on April 16, 1916.

The house below is where Peck lived in Milwaukee.

Lothrop Publishing Company Advertising

2009-10-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

I have seen two advertising pieces over the years that have a number of book covers attached together. One pictured here has the covers of 5 books published by the Lothrop Publishing Company. As I have noted before D. Lothrop Company was succeeded by the Lothrop Publishing Company in 1895. In 1905 the bankrupt Lothrop Company was merged with Lee and Shepard. Thus these covers date between 1895 and 1904.

During this period of time Lothrop Publishing Company published numerous books of this ilk. That is, large books of fairy tales and simple stories for youngsters with illuminated board covers.

It is unclear to me whether these joined covers were used by salesman or were used by stores as promotional pieces in their advertising.

The other cover piece similar to this I have seen was published by Henry Altemus Company. It included three books from the first edition of the Wee Books for Wee Folks. These books were published for only a short time in 1904. This piece is different from the Lothrop covers as there are no pictures included on the reverse side. That item is shown below.

This type of advertising ephemera is quite scarce.

Boys and Girls Travel Tales by Butterworth

2009-10-13T01:23:00.003-05:00

The Educational Travel Series written by Hezekiah Butterworth was a three book series published by Dana Estes and Company. Also called the Boys' and Girls' Travel Series it was later combined with three other "Travel Tales" which were written by G, Waldo Browne to comprise the Boys and Girls Travel Library.

These books were typical of the travelogue books that Butterworth wrote. Loosely based on fact with numerous illustrations "borrowed" from other sources. As opposed to the Zigzag stories, each book in this series featured a different set of travelers. In the preface however he notes that he is trying to emulate the form of the Zigzag stories. Pictured are covers from the books.

One interesting note should be made about the cover designs. If you look closely you can see the initials of Amy M. Sacker at the base of the South Africa book. The initials seen on the other two books are slightly different. Consultation with cover designer expert David Ogle pointed me to Adrian J. Iorio. This was a person who I had never heard of. Within the decoration just below gold "U" in Butterworth are the initials.

According to Publishers Designers in PBO Iorio worked for the Wayside Press before going out on his own around 1900. The designs he did are described as " bolder, broader lines; simpler, interlacing border patterns; and brighter colors."

#1. Traveller Tales of South Africa 1900
#2. Traveller Tales of China 1901
#3. Traveller Tales of Pan-American Countries 1902

(Despite the American origin of these books, the British spelling of Traveler was used in their titles.)

Hezekiah Butterworth

2009-10-12T00:35:00.000-05:00

Soon I will be discussing the juvenile series that were written by Hezekiah Butterworth. Before I do that I thought that I would put his biography into the blog. This bio comes from site on Hezekiah Butterworth. That site is a work in progress. (hezekiahbutterworth.com)

December 22,1839- September 5, 1905

This well known author, editor, and spokesman was born on his family farm in Warren, Rhode Island. One of six siblings (five brothers and a sister) he attended the public schools in Warren. His parents Gardiner Butterworth and Susan Ritchie Butterworth came from well established New England families. In fact the first Baptist church was founded at the home of his ancestor Deacon Joseph Butterworth in Massachusetts while the first Methodist Church was founded by his ancestor Daniel Gladding in Rhode Island.

There are few hard facts extant about his life until he left Rhode Island for Boston in 1870 and joined the Youth's Companion magazine. What is known is that Hezekiah studied Rhetoric and Composition at Brown University but not in a degreed program. It is unclear whether it was ill health or finances that prevented a more comprehensive University course. He taught in 1864-1865 at the Winter School of the East District in Warren. A report indicates he did well. "The scholars made commendable achievement especially in reading and arithmetic." During these years he also was employed by the local newspaper in Warren. His duties there are unclear.

Late in he 1860's he began to submit short stories to various religious magazines. The story of him selling his first work and getting $2 from the Watchman has been repeated over and over again in his biographies but I am unable verify it . For some of his material he used stories that his Aunt Liza told him. Journals such as the Congregationalist, Appleton's Journal, the Reflector and the New York Independent published his stories. In 1869 his story- Bunhill Fields appeared in the Freewill Baptist Quarterly*. He moved to Boston in 1870 writing for for several periodicals to support himself He soon came to the attention of Daniel Sharp Ford editor of the Youth's Companion. Whether he learned of Butterworth because of several articles about self education published in the Youth's Companion(as some assert) or met him through the Baptist Church, Ford hired Butterworth as an assistant editor. Hezekiah remained with the Youth's Companion from 1870-1894. His charge was to widen he circulation of the Youth's Companion and to widen its appeal to all juveniles. He accomplished this with an increase in readership from 140,000 to 400,000 by 1887.

Once ensconced at the Youth's Companion his writing flourished. His books articles, poetry, and song lyrics appeared in numerous formats. He was a frequent speaker and was a member of numerous organizations.

Books

His first book in 1874- Story of the Hymns- won the George Wood Gold Medal. This was an annual award given by the American Tract Society- a well known publisher of religious books.This book was followed by numerous other religious, biographical and travel/adventure books. More than 70 in number by the end of his life. His biographical books tended to fictionalize the youth of his characters. The travel books were praised by some as being moralistic and damned by others as being inaccurate and the product of a hack writer.

The most noteworthy of his books are found in the Zigzag Series. They sold in the millions and made Butterworth a "literary millionaire". As the story goes Dana Estes of Estes and Lauriat approached Butterworth with a book written by Rodolphe Topffer -Voyages en Zig-Zag.This book originally published in 1843 and its companion book Nouveaux Voyages en Zigzag published posthumously in 1853 chronicled the adventures of Topffer and his students in Europe. They were told in a humorous way with Topffer's illustrations which have been described as "witty and childlike". Estes asked Butterworth if he could produce something along the same lines. Shortly thereafter, Hezekiah put together the plan. Master Lewis would take a group of Boys on a trip during a school vacation. Seventeen adventures later, Master Lewis and the group had seen most of the world. These stories were not as much travelogue as they were history, fairy tales, and folklore tales. As opposed to Topffer's illustrations, most of the Estes and Lauriat Zigzag pictures were from previously published books ad their own files.

The Zigzag books were tremendously successful. Between 1879 and 1895 seventeen of these books sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Other Literary Pursuits

Butterworth wrote extensively. His writing consisted of far more than just his books. He wrote song lyrics and religious poetry by the score. His short stories appeared in Harper's Magazine, St. Nicholas, The Outlook and countless other periodicals. He was a regular contributor to Folio and a regular consultant to the American Messenger. He lectured frequently throughout the United States. His two most common talks were "The religious experiences of famous men" and "Men who overcame obstacles to spiritual success". At the World's Columbian Exposition he gave a speech on children's literature.

Activities

Hezekiah Butterworth was a member of numerous organizations. The one thing that most of these groups had in common was that the organization's goals were moralistic. He was a president of the anticigarette league. At the time there were 1.5 million members. Its goal was to protect America's youth from the evils of tobacco. He was a vice-president of the American Peace Society and actually read the opening poem at the Peace Congress in Chicago.

The most interesting club he was a member of was The Captain Rice Club. Little is known about this organization. 20 people signed a document which noted the name of the society and their intent to meet on the evening of the last Tuesday of August. The paper is not dated but one of the signers died in 1879. Beside Butterworth, Theodore Roosevelt (an undergraduate at Harvard at the time), Edward Everett Hale, Noah Brooks, and Albion Winegar Tourgee are among the signatories. It is presumed that this club's underlying goal was to somehow help the treatment of Blacks in the South. This is just a guess however.

Miscellaneous

Late in life beside his home in Rhode Island, he owned an orange grove in Belleview Florida. While there he taught at a small college at Belleview. This was around 1890.

Also in the 1890's he went on a number of trips to research his books. in 1895 he spent time in Europe and Egypt. His publisher sent him to South America in 1898.

He died secondary to complications of diabetes in 1905.

Hurling pictured on a Dust Jacket

2009-10-11T01:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I asked for a guess. The sport depicted on this book is hurling. Now I know that some of you will recall that something very different was called hurling years ago. But this is a sport.

The book, The Last lap is a Benziger Brothers' book published in 1925. On the front of the jacket a number of boys playing a game that is reminiscent of field hockey. But on the back of the book the sport is called hurling and the rules are given.

Hurling is stilled played in Ireland reflecting the Gaelic origin. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling

It is my opinion that this is the only series book that pictures this sport on its dust jacket illustration.

Sports Dust Jacket Covers

2009-10-10T00:55:00.001-05:00

I think the favorite part of my collection is the juvenile series books. As I was reorganizing some of my shelves, I came across a book whose dust jacket illustrated a sport which I really had never heard of. See if you can guess what sport that might be. That book will be shown tomorrow.

I thought it might be interesting to show a sampling of other sports' covers. Of course, the most common sports like baseball and football are best represented. But as you can see here, other sports have been seen. Here is a sampling of interesting covers. Basketball, hockey, crew, tennis,and track are shown. Sport or not, cheerleading is also here. No auto racing is included.

I have tried to just give one example for each sport. I am well aware that there are many more.

Benziger Publishing Company

2009-10-09T00:27:00.002-05:00

Many of the religiously oriented book publishers printed juvenile series. Examples are the Methodist Book Concern, The American Tract Company and the Presbyterian Board of Publication to name a few. One company that seemingly was more mainstream than the others was the Benziger Brothers.

Mattson's guide actually lists ten Benziger juvenile boy's series. And arbitrarily excluded many more than that. All of the juveniles of course have important moralistic lessons. I am sure these books grace the shelves of quite a number of famous Americans, like David Letterman, Mark Sanford, Bill Clinton, Bernie Madoff, etc, etc.

THe Benziger Brothers' firm was founded initially in 1853 as a branch of the Swiss Firm which dates back to 1793. The American compnay was run by the grandsons of the founder.Early on prayer books and liturgical texts were the mainstay of the publishing output. By the 1890's though and thereafter and very wide array of books were published including the juveniles.

With success came expansion. Branches were opened in St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco and even in Italy. many of the books have dates on the title pages. Some however do not but have New York City addresses and list which cities the branches are in.

To help with those books here is a simple table.
1870's- 36 Barclay Street
1932-26-28 Park Place
San Francisco branch opened in 1929

More about the Benziger juvenile series later.

Above is a nice advertising cover for the Benziger Brothers A picture of their building is on the upper left.

Amy M. Sacker- Cover Designer

2009-10-08T00:08:00.003-05:00

Every book cover was designed and drawn by someone. In the past I have shown examples of the Decorative Designers work and a cover done by Rome Richardson.
Of course, since both of these covers were signed, it was pretty easy to identify the artists. Without a signature I have no chance.

I thought I would show today another designers' work. By and large, most juveniles from the 19th and 20th centuries do not have a designer's imprint. Here are a few of books that do. Notice the S overlaying the A and the M which are inconspicuously placed on the cover.

Amy M. Sacker's imprint is seen from time to time on juvenile books. Sacker (1872?-1965) designed book plates, literary posters and illustrated books as well as book covers. Her book plates must have been quite popular since a book of them was published in 1903. According to references she was one of the first female book plate designers.

She graduated from the Art School of the Boston Museum in 1893. Subsequently she taught and later opened up her own school, Miss Amy Sacker's School of Design. She designed books for numerous publishers including Dana Estes, Little, Brown and Page just to name a few.

Little by little I hope to identify all of the artists who can easily be identified by their cover monogram in juvenile books of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For an excellent reference on Sacker, see: http://library.uncg.edu/depts/ref/staff/mark/documents/sacker.htm

Sidford Hamp Series

2009-10-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

This two volume series is another set that clearly shows the difference between kids in the early 1900's and now. I suspect that books about sheepman (wool growers) and ranching in the mountains of Colorado would not be big sellers (or even small sellers) today,

These books written by Sidford Hamp and published by W. A. Wilde were sturdily bound books typical of the publisher. Glossy illustrations by Emerson Chase are included.

The author wrote from experience. Hamp (1855-1919)was born in Liverpool, England. He emigrated to the United States at the age of seventeen and in 1872 traveled with the Hayden Geological Survey into the West. His experiences with western adventures were included in letters home as well as in a diary he kept. The diary cleared up mysteries about the first climbers of the Grand Tetons.

He later settled in Colorado Springs where he wrote a number of books. plays, short stories and operatic librettos. Other books also related to exploration and the West. The Treasure Of Mushroom Rock was about prospecting in the Rocky Mountains.

His papers are at the University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center

Frank Merriwell Postcards

2009-10-06T00:24:00.002-05:00

I have noted the Street and Smith and Federal hardcover Frank Merriwell books previously. The David McKay works will be discussed in the future. As mentioned before, Frank Merriwell appeared in the Tip Top weekly dime novels beginning in 1896. They were immensely popular. Over the years the Merriwell stories spurred quite a bit of ephemera.

Plays, movies, playbills , membership cards, badges and the like are scarce but very collectible for the Merriwell/Patten collector. One of the more elusive items dates from 1906 and 1908. That would be postcards.

In 1906 Street and Smith issued two different six card postcard sets. One was from Tip Top Weekly while the other was from another dime novel-Rough Rider Weekly. The Tip Top Weekly set features Frank Merriwell and pictures five other characters.
Apparently if a youngster wrote in to Street and Smith a letter about why he/she liked the Number 519 issue of Tip Top Weekly, they would be sent the set.

In 1908 Street and Smith reprinted the six card set. Again a letter to the publisher would earn a set.

I have a reproduction of the ad shown here from March 17, 1906. I do not know if it is possible to distinguish the earlier 1906 set from the 1908 set. The only way for sure is to find a postmark prior to 1908 on the back of the card. These postcards are the originals.

Ralph Henry Barbour

2009-10-05T00:41:00.002-05:00

Ralph Henry Barbour wrote more than 150 books. Sports' books made up most of his writings but he also wrote romance novels, some mysteries , a few stories a involving the sea, and a number on miscellaneous topics. He even published a book about automobile driving-"For Safety". The sports' books were mainly in series form with all sports represented-hockey, football, baseball etc.

Barbour (1870-1944) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He started work as a reporter after early successes with sales of poems and jingles to weekly magazines. He worked for newspapers in Boston, Philadelphia and other cities.
Toward the end of his newspaper career he began to write novels and eventually made that his vocation.

A number of publishers printed his books but a plurality were done by Appleton-Century and its D. Appleton predecessor. Early romance novels were mostly published by Lippincott.

As time goes on I will highlight various series and books done by this prolific author. I have including a sampling of his books here with an inscribed book page.

The Boys of Today Series by Carl Brandt

2009-10-04T00:22:00.001-05:00

Reilly and Britton published a number of series over the years. Last month I showed a nice flyer that advertised some of these books. Some of their series are quite rare like the Sam Steele Series. Some of their series are very collectible like their Big Game Series and the Boy Scout Series. Here is a series that is neither valuable nor very collectible.

The Boys of Today (and the Men of Tomorrow) is a three book series written by Carl Brandt that highlight great careers for boys. Of course, the more common careers of the 1916-1917 era were somewhat different from what those typical vocations of the 21st century. The books highlight building dams, growing corn and working in the lumber industry.
The books are well illustrated - each with four glossies.

The books each have a common cover decoration. In addition , with the exception of the title, the dust jacket illustration is common to the series. The jacket was illustrated by Fred Arting who also illustrated the Tom Wickham book.

I have included a book mark I found in the Corn Grower book. I thought it was quite a coincidence to find a ribbon for a Farmers' Week in a book about farming. Unfortunately my bookmark was not a Honus Wagner baseball card.

The Boys of Today
1. Tom Wickham, Corn Grower 1916 Illustrator- Fred J. Arting
2. Bob Hazard, Dam Builder 1916 -Illustrator Herbert Morton Stoops
3. Jerry King, Timber Cruiser 1917 - Harry A. Armstrong

The Tone Masters by Charles Barnard

2009-10-03T00:28:00.001-05:00

In the 1870's Lee and Shepard and its competitors in the juvenile series arena began to diversify their subject material. Less moralistic drivel and more adventure stories. After all competing with dime novels and each other was big business. Lots of historical biographies of explorers were published in this time frame. But there were some series that just seemed out of place. The Tone masters was one of them.

The Tone Masters was a three book series that was advertised as a "musical series for the young". Each of the books highlight the lives of two famous composers. As was noted in an interview of the author "the particular object of the present series being to interest and inform children by the reading...accounts of the lives of the great masters". It is hard to know how successful the author was but these books were reprinted by the Musical Herald Company and the New England Conservatory of Music into the late 1880's.

Charles Barnard (1838-1920) began his career as a florist but later turned to journalism. He wrote a number of pieces under the Jane Kingsford pseudonym.
Later he was an editor in his native Boston of the Boston Journal of Commerce and Vox Humana. He wrote numerous books and plays beside this series of books.
He lived for a time in New York City where he was an officer in the American Dramatist's Club. (Dictionary of American Biography)

The Tone Masters
1. Mozart and Mendelssohn 1870
2. Handel and Hadyn 1870
3, Bach and Beethoven 1870

As can be seen, the books are blind stamped with gold gilt decorations and lettering on the spine. As is typical of most of the Lee and Shepard books of this era, both maroon and green colored covers have been seen. I have seen additional title pages with the Music Herald Company listed as the publisher. Even the first edition Lee and Shepard books have a title page with the New England Conservatory of Music imprint.

A. Hyatt Verrill

2009-10-02T04:48:00.002-05:00

Some of the most difficult series to obtain in dust jackets are the one's written by A. Hyatt Verrill (1871-1954). Mattson's guide lists three Verrill series.

The Boy Adventurers - 4 volumes (Putnam's)
Deep Sea Hunters - 3 volumes (Appleton)
Radio Detectives Series - 4 volumes (Appleton)

These are short series published in the mid 1920's during a time when these publishers did small print runs of series books. Because of that these books are uncommon. In addition the cross over collecting of a series about the early days of the radio makes the last series listed even harder to find.

Verrill wrote more than just these eleven series books. His list includes more than one hundred books many of which reflect his interests in natural history, travel, and science fiction. He wrote more than twenty tales for the Amazing Stories Quarterly

He was born in 1871 in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale University where his father also taught. He served as the natural history editor of Webster's International Dictionary in 1896. In that role he illustrated numerous entries. In 1902 he invented the autochrome process of natural color photography. During his lifetime he spent significant periods of time on archeological missions to Central America, South America and the West indies.

In future blogs I will review his three juvenile series.

The Percy Family Series by Daniel C. Eddy

2009-10-01T00:12:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I reviewed Eddy's two volume travelogue series. Of course, these oversized books with great illuminated board covers really appeal to me.

Today while I still had Eddy's books all over my desk I thought I would review the Percy Family Series. This five volume series was published by three different publishers. Andrew F. Graves, Graves and Young, and The American Baptist Society (Philadelphia).

First Edition by published by Andrew Graves

Andrew F. Graves did all the first editions. Graves and Young began their publishing life in 1862-1863 when Henry A. Young joined Graves. In 1868 they split up and Andrew F. Graves retained the Percy Family rights. Thus there is an 1868 edition of this series published by Andrew F. Graves after he Graves and Young reprint editions. The earlier Graves Company was at 24 Cornhill in Boston whereas Graves and Young were at 24 Cornhill and the later Andrew F. Graves was at 20 Cornhill .

Here is the Graves and Young edition in 1865.

The book with the two people on the cover
is the Our Travelling party book.

Below is the later Andrew F. Graves book in green.
I have seen it in maroon also.

The pre-1968 publications were co-published with Sheldon and Company. See blog on 9/10/2009. After the 1868 editions, the American Baptist Publishing Society did an edition.

Later the books were renamed as another series. The five volume "Our Travelling Party" Series was published by D. Lothrop and Company, Ira Bradley and Bradley and Woodruff.

The series follows the adventures of the Percy Family through Europe.
1. Visit to Ireland 1859
2. England and Scotland 1859
3. Paris to Amsterdam 1860
4. Baltic to Vesuvius 1860
5. Alps and the Rhine 1860

The engraved illustration of the Percy Family at the front of the book was done by Winslow Homer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_Homer

The Our Travelling Party books all were published by D. Lothrop and Company in 1882.
The covers of these titles by the three publishers that printed them are identical.

Daniel Eddy-Morrill Higgins book

2009-09-30T04:44:00.001-05:00

As noted earlier Morrill, Higgins and Company published both Young Folks' Travels books in 1892. Here is a picture of the cover of that book. As you can see, the cover still has the Belford, Clarke and Company imprint.

Daniel Eddy's Rip Van Winkle's Travels Series

2009-09-30T00:45:00.002-05:00

Here is the first Crowell edition.

Daniel Eddy wrote a two book series initially using the pseudonym Rupert Van Wert. The books were published by seven different publishers beginning with Thomas Y. Crowell and ending with M.A. Donohue.

Let me review the publishing history because a fairly interesting pattern can be seen. With the exception of the Crowell and the C.E. Brown published books, the other five publishers make up a pattern that is frequently noted.

Belford, Clarke & Company ,which published these books after Crowell, went out of business in 1890. At that time Donohue, Henneberry (1890-1891) used the plates to publish their own copies. Morrill, Higgins which was in business only in 1892-1893 did a version. Later Donohue Brothers and M.A. Donohue published the series. This is the same pattern of publishing that is seen in the various Peck's Bad Boy books by George W. Peck as well as a number of other books/series.

Here is another early Thomas Crowell copy.

Crowell published the two books first. Master Van Wert takes his students on amazing travels throughout the world. The pseudonym of Rupert Van Wert is used by Eddy here

1. Rip Van Winkle's Travels in Foreign Lands 1881
2. Rip Van Winkle's Travels in Asia and Africa 1882

The second publisher was Belford, Clarke and Company. Here is an illuminated board cover book with a cloth cover below.

The first Crowell editions were published in both cloth at $2.25 and illuminated board covers at $1.75. Variably the Foreign Lands' book was titled "in Europe". Eddy's name does not appear within these books.

Belford, Clarke and Company thereafter published the two book series a number of times including in 1884,1885, 1888, 1889, and 1890. The pseudonym was used again.
The 1884-1885 versions by Belford, Clarke were titled:
1. Van Wert's Travels in Foreign Lands
2. Van Wert''s Travels in Asia and Africa

By 1888 the format had changed to a larger thinner book. The earlier Belford books are 8.5 x 6.75 whereas the later books are 10 x 8. Also the name had now changed from Rip Van Winkle's Travels to:
Young Folks Travels in Europe
Young Folks Travels in Asia and Africa
No author is given in these books. The illuminated board covers change from year to year.

Here are three illuminated board cover books from Belford, Clarke and Company. Notice the different covers.

Morrill, Higgins and Company did a reprint of this edition in 1892.

Later in the 1890's, the titles were changed again. They became:
1. All Aboard for Europe
2. All Aboard for Asia and Africa.
These books were published by Donohue, Henneberry, Donohue Brothers, and M.A.Donohue. They were combined with the two book All Aboard Series written by Edward A. Rand to make up a four book All Aboard Series. The cover formats were changed on the Eddy books to conform to the Rand books. The Eddy books now listed him as an author.

Finally, Charles E. Brown published the two books in their own series called Eddy's Travels. This series was published in 1893. The books were titled:
1. Eddy's Travels in Europe
2. Eddy's Travels in Asia and Africa

The books regardless of the publisher have the same content. Numerous illustrations taken from other sources are parts of these stories.

Note that here are the All Aboard books published by the Donohue family.

Outrageous Ebay Book Listings

2009-09-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

Like many book collectors I search the auctions on Ebay for items within my area of interest. I especially check the Henry Altemus listings. It is troubling of course that at least 40% of the listings have significant errors regarding date, edition, or something else. (My study of Altemus Ebay titles) Occasionally items are priced to start at unreasonable amounts. I thought from time to time I would point some of those listings on this site. I think I will designate them-Outrageous Ebay.

Here is one of the really bizarre ones. This seller has listed an Alice in Wonderland for a Buy It Now at $500 or Make an offer. This book is a 1907 late Henry Altemus Company reprint.
(http://henryaltemus.com/series/series143.htm)
Fairly common. It does not have the original box. My price would be maybe $10 on a very good day.

I think some sellers feel that since the title is very well known that the book must have value. Altemus published this title in hundreds of different formats and only a handful of them have any significant collector's interest.

After seeing this book I thought I would look at what else this seller had on his/her list. It was then that I saw a real eye opener (or eye closer). He has an ad for Helen's Babies by John Habberton at a Buy it Now for $850. (That's dollars not Rupees)

Helen's Babies is a Peter Parley to Penrod book published by Loring in 1876. This is a book I do not know much about but there are a number of Loring copies advertised as first editions on book search services from $25-125.

So you might be thinking he is only trying to get 8-10 times the going price. Not so quickly book collector. His book is not a Loring book. His book was published by The World Publishing Compnay. I have a few World Publishing books. They are in the garage. World was a publisher of mainly cheap reprints. From 1929-1940 it was known as the World Syndicate Trading Company. From 1940-1974 it was the World Publishing Company. So this Ebay book is a late reprint without a jacket. I am not an expert on pricing but this book cannot possibly have any dollar value at all.

Hurry-These books will not last forever. Well, maybe they will.

Daniel C. Eddy and Juvenile Series

2009-09-29T00:39:00.001-05:00

Daniel C. Eddy (1823-1896) wrote a number of juvenile series in the 19th century. I have six listed in my juvenile bibliography but in fairness several are reprints of his earlier series such that there really are only three different series

As is frequently the story with 19th century juvenile authors, Eddy was a man of the cloth. He graduated in 1845 from the Hampton Theological Institute in New Hampshire. As a Baptist minister he served a number of churches throughout the East. His work began in the Boston area. In 1861 he was moved to Philadelphia. Later he served in Fall River, Massachusetts and Brooklyn, New York.

While in Massachusetts in 1854 he was elected to the state house of representatives where he acted as Speaker of the House. He was a member of the Know Nothing Party. (One of my personal political party favorites)

He frequently spoke out about the evils of alcohol. In 1889 he was elected as a manager in the National Temperance Society.

Although he authored a number of religious and moralistic works, my main interest with Eddy will be his juvenile series. He had traveled overseas in Europe in 1850 and in Turkey and the Holy Land in 1861. These adventures served him well while writing his juvenile books since his series were all travelogue in type.

They are:
1. The Percy Family
2. Walter's Tour in the East (A continuation of the Percy family adventures)
3. Our Traveling Party (Reprints of the Percy family Books)
4. Rip Van Winkle's Travels (pseudonym of Rupert Van Wert)
5. Young Folk's Travels (Reprints of Rip Van Winkle's Travels)
6. Eddy's Travels (Reprints of Rip Van Winkle's Travels)

Some book covers are shown here. The actual series will be discussed in future blogs.

Here is the cover used by all three publishers of the Our Traveling Party.

Butler Brothers Published Dust Jacketed Book

2009-09-28T01:09:00.001-05:00

As noted yesterday, sometimes companies which are not primarily book publishers still print books/series of interest.

Butler Brothers was a giant merchandising house. The house was founded in 1877 by Edward and George with Charles joining his two brothers shortly after. Butler brothers made their mark by supplying retail merchants with items for the "five cent counter". Their other innovation was that instead of having traveling salesmen promoting their goods they sent out product catalogues. At one time it was thought to be the largest supply house in the world. Butler Brothers formally incorporated in 1887. Main offices/warehouses were in New York, Chicago and St. Louis.

In the 1880's Butler Bros. advertised "a complete library" which they would sell for $14.00. Sold only to merchants (presumably for resale) this set of 30 books came with a "polished maple book rack".

The books consisted of reprints of classic fiction by authors such as Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hughes and others. (See ad).

Butler Brothers published few books so the book pictured here Life of Daniel Webster with the dust jacket is an unusual find. I have seen another book from this series dated 1887. Because the title page of neither book says "corporation" , this series was probably published in 1887 or earlier.

Here is a picture of one of the founding brothers, Edward Butler.

The original warehouse in Chicago is shown here.

Dickens' Boxed Set Published by Rust Craft Shop

2009-09-27T00:36:00.000-05:00

Fred Rust opened his Book and Craft Shop in Kansas City in 1906. Along with his brother Donald (mining engineer by vocation) they produced various greetings cards, blotters, calendars and the like.

The Rusts' moved to Boston from Kansas City in 1913 opening the Rust Craft Company. Mainly in the greeting card business, this greeting card company evolved into one of the largest in the United States. After the move to Boston it produced greeting cards, puzzles, book marks, books, postcards, book plates, etc. I have even seen fruit jar labels by this company.

The Rust Craft Greeting Cards Inc. Company was purchased by Ziff Davis in 1979. The price which included the six television stations Russ Craft owned, was $89 million dollars. Of course the Rust family had long since sold out.

Rust Craft published only a few books but here is an interesting boxed set they did. It consists of 5 Christmas books by Dickens:
A Christmas Carol
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Haunted Man
The Chimes
The Battle of Life

All five of these softcover books have the same picture on the cover. These little books are 5.5 x 3.0 with illustrated end papers. Each book has one tipped in color illustration by Munro S. Orr.

Although I am not certain, this series of books was probably published between 1915-1930.

The box at each end has a paste on label. Both are shown here. One label has a short poem about the books and identifies them. The other label is an advertisement for Daniel Low and Company-jewelers in Salem, Massachusetts. Of interest is that it appears that the Daniel Low Company was responsible for the ever popular souvenir spoon industry. See: http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SouvenirFlatware.html

This boxed set is an example of a nice set not done by a company thought of as a book publisher.
Clearly scarce but probably not really valuable

Ned Brewster Series by Chauncey Hawkins

2009-09-26T00:39:00.002-05:00

Old storied publishing houses did not specialize in juvenile series in the early 20th century. Of course, the bread and butter of these firms were adult fiction and non fiction. But there were series done. Little , Brown was an old venerable house founded in 1837 by Charles C. Little and James Brown.

Its series books included those written by Mary Wells Smith, George Atwater, Roy Snell and a number of others. In Mattson there are 24 series listed. These series are a bit harder to come by. I suspect because the quality of the binding was better than the average series book and subsequently the price was higher (generally more than $1.00) the print runs must have been relatively small. This is especially true for series authored by unknown writers.

Today's series is the three volume Ned Brewster seres written by Chauncey Hawkins. The books (as with all of the series books published by Little, Brown) came with dust jackets. The stories are about big game hunting with guns and cameras. The illustrations are from photographs taken by the author.

Chauncey Hawkins (1887 -1930) was a pastor as well as an author. He was from Vaccaville, California. He served at various churches throughout Massachusetts, Seattle and San Francisco. He wrote several religiously oriented books in addition to the three Ned Brewster volumes. Hawkins may not have been playing with a full deck. While living in Boston he owned a bear cub named Blitzen that wheeled the carriage of his four year old son son.

When he died it was not a wild animal that got him but rather just a mundane auto accident outside Visalia, California.

1. Ned Brewster's Year in the Big Woods 1912
2. Ned Brewster's Bear Hunt 1913
3. Ned Brewster's Caribou Hunt 1914

Estes and Lauriat Advertising Cover

2009-09-25T01:35:00.000-05:00

Here is an excellent advertising cover. On the left of this long envelope is a picture of the Estes and Lauriat building in Boston. This 299-301 address refers to its address on Washington Street in Boston where it was situated between 1876 and 1898.

In 1898 Dana Estes and Company succeeded this firm.

Estes and Lauriat published quite a number of fairly well known series including the Zigzag Series by Butterworth, the Knockabout Series by Frederick Ober and the Three Vassar Girls Series among others. As time goes by I will review their various series.

Children's Lives of Great Men by Elbridge Brooks

2009-09-24T01:19:00.001-05:00

As discussed yesterday, Elbridge Brooks wrote a number of 19th century juvenile series. One of the more popular was the 6 volume Children's Lives of Great Men. This series was also called the True Story Series.

These books are oversized (9.5 x 7.5) beautifully illustrated with covers of various colors which have book appropriate illustrations and embossed shields highlighting the main character of the book.

The six books are:

1. The Story of Christopher Columbus 1892
2. The Story of George Washington 1895
3. The Story of Abraham Lincoln 1896
4. The Story of U.S. Grant 1897
5. The Story of Benjamin Franklin 1898
6. The Story of Lafayette 1899

Books #1 and 2 were initially published by D. Lothrop Company. Thereafter all six books were published by Lothrop Publishing Company. Later all the books were reprinted by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. All the volumes originally came jacketed.
The later Lothrop, Lee and Shepard (after 1905) books have the same cover with less colors.

The Story of Christopher Columbus was revised as a Lothrop, Lee and Shepard book. A seventh title- The True Story of the United States of America (1891 D. Lothrop Company) is occasionally considered a companion volume to this series

Above you can see the difference between the later Lothrop, Lee and Shepard books and the
earlier Lothrop Publishing Company book. The blue Lafayette book which is somewhat plain is the later book while the green Lafayette book is the earlier one. The Lafayette jacket is on the later book.

Elbridge Brooks Advertising Flyer

2009-09-23T00:53:00.000-05:00

Elbridge Brooks ( 1846-1902) wrote authored seven 19th century juvenile series.
Seen here is a nice two page advertising pamphlet that features his books. This piece was printed by the Lothrop Publishing Company in 1899. Most of his works appear to be historical or biographical in nature.

A brief biography from Wikipedia indicates that he was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He worked for various publishers and magazines including D. Appleton and Company, Publishers' Weekly and the Youth's Companion. During his latter years from 1887 to 1902 he worked as an editor at D. Lothrop Company. He was an editor for Lothrop's Wide Awake, a magazine previously mentioned in this blog.

Most but not all of his series were done for Lothrop. These included:
Children's Lives of Great Men
The Brooks' Stories
Story of the States Series

His various series will be highlighted in future blogs.