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.
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).
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