Franconia Series by Jacob Abbott

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.

Marco Paul's Adventures by Jacob Abbott

Before Rollo travelled to Europe, Marco Paul meandered through the Northeast. Jacob Abbott's six book series was initially published in 1843. It was reprinted a number of times, the latest editions being done in the 1880's.

Abbott stated in his preface that the design of these books was not just to entertain readers with a "narrative of juvenile adventures" but also to help the reader in the "acquisition of knowledge and the formation of character". As was typical of the era, books for boys and girls were to educate, promote religion and inspire morality. It was not until the 1850's with Goulding's Young Marooners that juvenile books really sought to entertain. But even in the 1850's reviews cited the Marco Paul books as "among the best books which can be put into the hands of youth". Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, William Dana, 1852

Although the Abbott books of this and his other series still sold well into the 1880's and 1890's , more and more they became niche books.

T. H. Carter 1844 T.H. Carter 1843



















In this series Marco, a boy of about twelve travelled with his cousin (and tutor) John Forester in the Pursuit of Knowledge. In fact initially the series was known as Marco Paul's Adventures in Pursuit of Knowledge. Later once B.B. Mussey in 1848 and then Harper and Brothers began reprinting the volumes in 1852 the title was expanded to Voyages and Travels in the Pursuit of Knowledge.

Initially all six volumes were Published by T.H. Carter & Company in Boston in 1843. Preceding the hardcover versions the stories were published in 12 monthly parts. These parts which were 12.5 cents each had 144 pages. I believe but am not sure that the serialized version appeared in the Girls' and Boys' Magazine edited by Mrs. S. Colman. The books were published throughout 1843.

In 1844 and 1845 the series was republished by T.H. Carter. As of 1845 the title page said 5th edition on the titles.

In 1844, 1845 and 1848 Benjamin B. Mussey of Boston also published the set. Of note is that these two publishers were printing the books at the same exact time in the same city.

Later in 1848 Wm. J. Reynolds published the set.


B.B. Mussey 1848


















Wm. J. Reynolds 1848


















Harper and Brothers 1852

Harper and Brothers did several reprint editions between 1852-1853 and later in 1880. The first four books were first done by Harper in 1852 and the last two were done in 1853.

It was not until the earliest of the Harper reprints that the name of Jacob Abbott appeared on the title page. Prior to this it said "By the Author of Rollo, Jonas and Lucy Books. THe Marco Paul series came boxed as a set by Harpers. They could also be purchased individually. In 1858 the books were 50 cents , by 1870 they were 90 cents each.



The books:
Marco Paul
1. In the City of New York
2. On the Erie Canal
3. In the Forests of Maine
4. In Vermont
5. In the City of Boston
6. At the Springfield Armory

Tom Brown in Parts-First Serialized Version

The two Tom Brown books (Tom Brown's Schooldays and Tom Brown at Oxford) written by Thomas Hughes (1822-1896) were two of the most popular and well read books of the second half of the nineteenth century. Initially both were published in England but their American reprints are ubiquitous. More than 50 publishers reprinted these two titles in numerous formats between the 1860's and 1900. The popularity probably stems from the realistic portrayal of school boy life in England.
The American first editions were published by Ticknor and Fields 1857 (Schooldays) and Ticknor and Fields 1861 (at Oxford)

Some of the reprints are quite commonly found whereas others are next to impossible to locate. Perhaps the most difficult to locate are the books in wraps and the paperback books. Of these, undoubtedly the scarcest is the serialized version of Tom Brown at Oxford that was published monthly in 17 parts by Ticknor and Fields between 1859 and 1861. These parts were the authorized reproduction of parts being published in England by MacMillan.

It would seem that each part should be relatively easy to obtain based on the number published. They are fragile enough for not many to have survived over the years.
Here are the publication number:
Parts I-II 2000 copies each
Parts III, IV, VI-XIII- 1500 copies
Parts V, XIV, XV -1000 copies
Parts XVI, XVII - 750 copies

Harper and Brothers published their pirated copy of this book from the Ticknor parts. Its first volume was published in 1860 and is the first American edition (at least in part) of this book.
The second volume of the book by Harpers was published after an agreement was reached with Ticknor. Ticknor and Fields published the 2 volume set of Tom Brown at Oxford in November 24, 1860 (Volume 1) and July 16, 1861 (Volume 2). Both books however had 1861 on the title page.

Pictured here are two of the 17 parts (Nos. III and VII). Although there are no insert ads like the typical parts seen in Dickens' works, there are ads on the back covers and after the text (in Part III) The booklets are small (7.25 x 4.5). Interestingly part VII ends in mid sentence -just like the Harper and Brothers pirated edition of Volume 1.