Henry Altemus Company

The Henry Altemus Company:

A History and Pictorial Bibliography

Cary Sternick

 

This reference book details in unsurpassed thoroughness the history of the Henry Altemus Publishing Company and the myriad of books it produced throughout its ninety four year existence.

 

The Henry Altemus Company:

A History and Pictorial Bibliography

 

by Cary Sternick

 

Review by Gil O'Gara

YellowBack Library, Nov. 2005

 

This may be the best reference on old-time books that I have read this year.

Having said that, I guess I shouldn't need to write any more, but let me give you some background on this project.

Cary Sternick, well known for his meticulous research (and his amazing collection of vintage children's fiction and juvenile series books), has just published this new volume. Like his other works, this one is a large, perfect-bound softcover volume which is a glorious thing to behold. And it deals with the output of one company: Henry Altemus.

Now, let me explain that I have been collecting old books for most of my life, including a goodly number of the Altemus offerings, and I was amazed at the number of items I had never seen or of whose existence I was unaware. Book after book after book after book, all detailed in the pages of this reference. I did not realize the full scope of this publishing house's activities.

Cary Sternick brought home that reality to me as I paged through this book. He gives us a concise history of the company, first, then gives us background on the various publisher's series. The main body of this work is the bibliography, a listing, along the format lines of Hudson, of the various series, everything cross-indexed, of course.

Even more mind-boggling are the pages and pages of glossy color photos illustrating examples of the covers and their artwork (including applicable dustjackets). This is a beautiful section, although I felt that some of the photos were a little dar. Cary and I discussed this, and he points out that many of the covers were also dark, and simply photographed that way.

There are bonuses for those of you with access to the 'net. Cary has a website, henryaltemus.com, which updates this volume. (Cary, the unstoppable researcher, has already found more material). The website is itself a thing of beauty; check it out.

For more info on this book, contact Cary at his website, or e-mail him at css3@mac.com. For those Yellowback readers who are not online, try dropping him a note at 990 Village Square, #K, Tomball, Texas 77375.

 

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Price: $64.95 postpaid

Shipping Weight 3+ lbs.

 

Featuring coverage of:

Including information on:

  • 200+ Series

  • 10000+ Books

  • 500+ Authors

  • 1,200+ Color Illustrations

  • Nearly 100 Color Plates

  • Authors

  • Series

  • Format Descriptions

  • Suggested Values

 

 

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Price: $29.95 plus shipping

Price: $64.95 postpaid

Cary Sternick

990 Village Square, Suite K

Tomball, TX   77375-4269

281-351-9807

ISBN = 0615129579

 

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Last Revision November 30, 2009