Altemus' Circus Boys Series Dust Jackets

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

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

Outrageous Ebay Book Listings

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.

Dore Masterpieces Presentation Edition

The Dore Masterpieces published by Henry Altemus is a 7 volume series of oversized elegant books with numerous illustrations done by Gustave Dore.

Altemus was not the first to publish these Dore books but their copies were certainly among the most popular. They frequently sell for more than almost any other Altemus books. I suspect the reason is that buyers take the illustrations from the book and try to sell them individually. They should not bring high dollars otherwise because all the formats except for #6- the Presentation Editions are rather common.

See ad for 1889-1890 edition.



Of note is that these books were the first books for reading that Altemus published. Previously Altemus imprints were only found on Bibles, photographic albums and scrapbooks.

Gustave Dore (1882-1883) was a prolific French artist who produced more than 8000 wood engravings, 1000 lithographs. 400 oil paintings and more. Perhaps his most famous works were his engravings for Dante's Inferno. For an excellent biography/bibliography see Gustave Dore by Dan Malan , Malan Classic Enterprises, St. Louis, Mo. 1995.







The Presentation Editions of this Altemus series are very special. Each is different. Silk bindings that are padded with satin ribbons stamped in gold. They were only published in 1889-1890 making them quite scarce. I have seen only one with the ribbons intact. (Thanks to Justin Marlowe). As you can imagine, after 120 years or so, it would be difficult to find the ribbons extant.

For your interest other formats of this title within this series are shown here:
http://henryaltemus.com/series/series78.htm

Unusual Series- Boxed with Holly Attached to Cover

Generally speaking when I get a book that has a dust jacket or is within a labeled box, it is a successful book day. When the book comes with a jacket and a box , it is even better. What other combinations exist?
Well today I have one for you.

Henry Altemus' Christmas Gift Series was a series of 25 books. They were never advertised or mentioned in any publisher's' catalogues or advertisements. In fact the only identification of the Christmas Gift Series is on a labeled box. Beyond the box that the book comes in however there is something else. The books come with a piece of holly attached to them. In fact the box is a bit deeper than is necessary for the book to fit in order to accommodate the holly. As you can see the box is decorated by pictures of holly.


The series was published in 1906-1907. The books have been seen with a pink or green linen cloth. The titles are the usual multi authored reprints of many classic titles. See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series65.htm .

So here is a very unusual series of books that are boxed with a piece of holly attached to the front cover.

Quite unique!!

The Tale of Peter Rabbit- American Piracy-Part 2

Today I would like to discuss the third format of the Tale of Peter Rabbit published by Henry Altemus. This is by far the most familiar format of the Wee Books for Wee Folks Series.

In 1917 the third format was introduced. At that time The Tale of Peter Rabbit along with three other Peter Rabbit titles were introduced . They all had the familiar applique (paste-on) on the front cover.

The other three books were Went to Sea, At the Farm and Christmas.

All four of these titles initially stated Wee Books for Wee Folks on the top of their title page. By 1918 all four books stated Peter Rabbit Series at the top of their title pages as they became the first four books of the 20 book Peter Rabbit Series.





















Thus the 1917 books are easily distinguished from the 1918 books and the 1917 books are easily distinguished from earlier Peter Rabbit books. Again remember that even this format's The Tale of Peter Rabbit has the 1904 copyright notice on its title page,

A couple of other points.
1. The 1917-1922 books have blank end papers.
2. The lettering on the cover of the 1917-1921 books is yellow (red for Peter Rabbit's Christmas)

So anytime a book seller notes the paste-on in his ad for this title, the book is at least a 1917 book.

Tale of Peter Rabbit-First American Piracy-- Part 1

One of the most common errors in advertising and selling books published by Henry Altemus involves its Peter Rabbit piracy. Most people are aware that the first American piracy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published by Henry Altemus Company in 1904. Where most sellers go wrong is that they do not know how to distinguish early from later formats of this title. In addition, they are fooled by seeing that on the title page all of the editions say "copyright 1904". (We are just talking about the 16 mo. editions here. The larger sized books are clearly later copies).

A very well known children's book dealer who specializes in high price items has this ad:

(Summarized) Peter Rabbit, Henry Altemus Company 1904. pale green.... Dust wrapper. Dust wrapper lists 6 titles including Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, Mother Goose Nursery Tales, ... A very early if not first edition in this format. $750.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was one of six books introduced by Altemus in its Wee Books for Wee Folks Series in 1904. The first editions were 5.5 x 4.25, had a decorative pattern with the title on the left of the cover, and a book appropriate multi colored illustration within an oval on the right side of the book. This is the true first edition.


Later in 1904-1905 the familiar line drawn book appropriate pictures on a green cover were noted. This was the first format of the second edition. By 1908-1912 the second format of the second edition had a beige/light green cover but the picture was the same the green cover. The third format of the second edition has the same picture on the cover but is now bluish with an orange spine.






The Third format will be discussed tomorrow.

There was one other key change beside the cover colors during the years of the second format. In 1916 the names of two of the titles were changed. Nursery Tales and Nursery Rhymes became Mother Goose Nursery tales and mother goose Nursery Rhymes.





















As you can see here, this book with the Mother Goose titles must be from 1916 or later.



Now back to our ABAA/ respected book dealer. The advertised book cannot be older than 1916 based on the titles noted on the book. The book is clearly a second edition, second format book. It is not the first, not an early edition, not the first in that format. And certainly in my opinion the price is somewhere beyond way too much. But, of course, that is only my opinion.

The six books of the Wee Books Series published first in 1904 are.
1. Nursery Tales
2. Nursery Rhymes
3. Tale of Peter Rabbit
4. Foolish Fox
5. Three Three Pigs
6. Robber Kitten

Altemus advertising of Shakespeare Series (#164)

Altemus ephemera
In the early 1900’s department stores were a popular place to buy books. Most large stores had impressive book departments. I remember even as late as the 1950’s in my hometown of Milwaukee Gimbels, The Boston Store and Schusters had these departments.


Here is a fascinating advertising ephemera piece.




The Shakespeare Series (#164) was a 39 volume set published from 1899 until Henry Altemus Company went out of business in 1933. The books were sold separately as well as by the set. Boxed sets were sold beginning in 1909. As of the date of this flyer in 1907 the hard cover books sold for 35 cents while the soft leather ones sold for 50 cents.

One of the things that I have noticed over the years is how common these books are. I am asked questions about this series almost as often as I am about any Altemus books. The only reasonable explanation is that they were a giant selling success for Altemus. Perhaps this flyer helps us understand a bit.

Here is a department store from Rochester (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibley's) that is offering quite a deal. Sibley’s offers 27 volumes of this series at 15 cents each i.e. 56% off the retail price. This is on some payment plan that is not elucidated by the flyer but when the payments are done, the remaining 12 books are given to the buyer for no additional cost. This is a great deal. Effectively that is selling the whole set for $4.05 -a bit more than a dime per book.

The reverse side of the flyer allows the purchaser to select which 27 titles he wants.
This flyer which is 7.75 x 3.75 was found in a copy of one of the Shakespeare’s books. This is the only flyer I have seen that mentions Altemus books which was not an Altemus publication.

For more information on Henry Altemus please refer to my site henryaltemus.com .

Arthur Conan Doyle and Henry Altemus

Henry Altemus published many great works of literature. Virtually all of them however were reprints of older original works. My site henryaltemus.com can give you an idea of the extent to which this is true.

Of interest is that the classic Doyle bibliography does not give all of the Doyle Altemus books. Green and Gibson in A Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle (1999) lists Beyond the City and The Sign of the Four. No dates or other information is noted.







For completeness, Henry Altemus in its Printemps Series of 1895 (see http://henryaltemus.com/series/series152.htm) also published A Study in Scarlet and A Case of Identity. All the books in this series had the same cover illustration drawn by Archie Gunn.

Three of the four Doyle books are shown here.