Sunday, August 30, 2009

W. L. Allison and Company 19th Century Dust Jacket

I believe that most all books after 1880 were originally published with dust jackets and/or in boxes. The fact that the examples are hard to locate does not negate the premise.

Here is a dust jacketed book published by the W. L. Allison Company.

William L Allison (1832-1893) opened his publishing door in 1869 as the successor to T. O'Kane. Initially he used the W.L. Allison imprint. In 1890 the Allison plates were purchased by the Lovell's who organized the United States Book Company. Lovell's organization went broke soon after but by 1894 the Allison Company was up and running as the William L. Allison Company. It is unclear to me who was running the company since W.L. Allison was dead and buried. Nonetheless it continued to publish books until 1900.

In 1900 W.L. Allison sold all of their plates to the Donohue Brothers which continued most of the Allison series.

This book was published sometime between 1898 (when Adventures in Cuba was printed and 1900 when Allison met its demise). The dust jacket is typical for the era with fragile brownish colored paper and a design that matches the book. An excellent example of a 19th century dust jacket on a W.L. Allison Company book.

25 comments:

  1. Hi, I have a copy of Christmas Stories By Charles Dickens published by W.L. Allison Company, N.Y.
    It has no publication date.

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  2. I have a copy of Cowper Arundel Edition Published by William L. Allison located at 93 Chambers Street, New York. There is no date listed in the book as to how old it may be, other than it is listed as the tenth edition. Is there some way I may be able to get an idea as to how old this book is?

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  3. I have a copy of the History of Greece V. III by George Grote published by WM L. Allison New York. No publishing date. No edition but originally published around 1850.

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  4. i have a copy of the christmas stories by charles dickens publisher new york wm.l.allison with no publishing date and how much is it worth

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  5. i have a copy of the christmas stories by charles dickens publisher new york wm.l.allison with no publishing date

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  6. i have a copy of the christmas stories by charles dickens publisher new york wm.l.allison with no publishing date. 1st page says christmas stories from household words and all the year round by charles dickens,next page a christmas carol in prose being a ghost story of christmas starting with stave 1 ,the chimes, cricket on hearth,the battle of life, haunted man I am trying to find out the year the book was published and what it might posibly be worth it is a hard back and looks old but in good condition especially if it date to the late 1800's the pages are yellowed on the edges and the binding its a little loose... but over all ok ... It will be pasted down to my son in hopes that he will cherrish it all the same ...

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  7. I Have a Fireside series for boy the Myterious island Published by wm l allson with chrismas day 1891 written on what is it worth

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  8. i have a copy of What Tommy Did by Emily Huntington Miller copyright date 1876 by S.C. Griggs and Company publishers by W.L.Allison and Co. Hardback

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  9. I have been searching the web and I can't find information on my Lewis Caroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, book. It has Wm. L. Allison Company listed as the publisher on the first page but no date is listed. It's a faded green hardcover book w/ gold writing. It has the "vassar series" on the front and has donohue brothers on the side of the spine. Does anyone have any information? I'm trying to get an idea on the value but I have no clue when it was published.

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    Replies
    1. Did you ever find any info on your book. I too have the same book

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  10. Hello, i have found, among my mothers things, a book by Jacob Abbott titled: History of Julius Caesar. The inscription is to my great uncle from his parents on Christmas 1899. i cannot find anything on the 'net about it. Can anybody point me in the right direction? Thanks.

    JFK

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  11. I have a second edition of Jane Eyre Arundel Edition published by Wm L Allison. There is no date, but itincludes a preface dated December 1847. Researching what the possible value of this book is.

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    Replies
    1. Ever figure this out? I've got one as well.

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  12. I have an Arundel Series Edition of Last of the Mohicans or A Narrative of 1757 published by Wm. L. Allison Company. Seems pretty old ...do not see a date. Last page .....4 paragraphs appear to be missing. Any value? ehbarish@comcast.net

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  13. That Allison Company "Last of the Mohicans" appears to be from 1893 and goes for $80-$100 in Very Good condition.

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  14. I have a copy of "Tour of the World in 80 Days", Jules Verne published in New York by William L. Allison Co. just looking for a possible publishing date ?

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  15. I have a copy of "Tour of the World in 80 Days" W.L. Allison Company published date 1893 comments???

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  16. I have a book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The publisher of the book is W.L. Allison company. I know the company was named that between 1869 and 1896. But what I wanted to know is if the copy I have is a first edition and the possible value of the book.
    My email is SouthernSpunk77@yahoo.com

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  17. spiritwood650@yahoo.comMarch 20, 2016 at 2:48 PM

    I have a copy of Jekyll & Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson pub by Wm. L. Allison..no publish date..but on the first few pages one page has an 8 printed on the bottom of the page ,2 pages over there is a 2 printed on the bottom..I wonder if this dates the book to 82 ..1882 any one else find random numbers with in the first few pages of there books.

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  18. Charles O'Malley The Irish Dragoon Charles Lever William L Allison Company New York. My book.

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  19. Researching a book Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe published in New York by W. L. Allison. No date. Gilt printing on spine. Excellent condition.

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