Henry Altemus Company

George W. Childs Presentation Bible

Occasionally on the cover of an Altemus Bible there is an engraving with a family name or an identifying icon. For example a Bible produced for the Benevolent Order of the Elks has a gold gilt Elk pictured on the cover. (http://henryaltemus.com/publications/elks.htm)

Here is a Bible that has a presentation inscription in gold gilt letters on the front. It states "Presented to the Ladies Aid of Corporal W. H. Rihl Camp No.99 S. of U. by George W. Childs.

The Bible is interesting because it is like no other Altemus Bible that I have seen. It is dated 1887. It has no illustrations. There are no special features such as dictionaries, marriage pages, commentaries, etc. in this Bible. Clearly George Childs spent nothing extra on this gift presentation. The cover though is identical to the Bible shown on the site as B2. (See: http://henryaltemus.com/bibles/bibles.htm). Interestingly the B2 Bible has an inscription (family name). The B2 Bible is one of the few Altemus Bible covers that has a space for an inscription.

I suspect that many of these featureless, bare bones Bibles were used as presentation gifts.

George W. Childs (1829-1894) was a well known literary figure. He was a Philadelphia publisher with the house of Childs and Peterson. He was also the publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. His classic autobiography "Recollections" gives insights into his relationships with a number of literary heavyweights of the era. This included Hawthorne, Longfellow, Emerson, etc. His biographies make it clear that he was also a well respected philanthropist. Of course, what man about town did not have his own cigars. Shown below is a Childs' cigar box and an autographed card.

Stock Certificate

This is another stock certificate printed by Altemus and Company. This certificate differs from the other two that have been found in two ways. First, the other two stock certificates were printed for local Pennsylvania companies whereas this one was printed for a company located in Colorado. Secondly, this is the earliest of the three being printed in 1882.

All three certificates have the Altemus & Co. Phil in the bottom left.

1901 Advertising Flyer

Tommy Foster's Adventures was first published by Altemus in 1901 as part of the Boys' and Girls' Series of New Copyrights. Folly in Fairyland was also first published by Altemus in 1901. This latter book was the first title in the two book Folly Series. Since both books first came out in 1901, a reasonable assumption is that the flyer is from that same year. It is 7.125 x 3.25 which is the typical size of the Altemus one sheet advertising flyers.

It is likely that most all Altemus titles/series had similar advertisements. Unfortunately they are quite hard to find.

Altemus Bindery

Here is the 1848 version of Christmas Blossoms by Uncle Thomas. This book was published by Phillips and Sampson, a Boston publisher. As can be seen above this same cover was used in 1849 by E. H. Butler with its publication of that year's Christmas Blossoms by Uncle Thomas.

If you look closely, the words "Altemus Binder" and "Phi" are placed in the gold gilt on the bottom left of the front cover.

Bottom Left

Envelope-Advertising Cover (1890)

This is a very rare Altemus advertising cover from 1890. In 1889 Altemus published the six titles of the Dore's Masterpieces Series. (http://henryaltemus.com/series/series78.htm). All six oversized volumes were published until 1903 in a number of different formats. Because of the beautiful Gustave Dore illustrations, these books are always in great demand and sell for a premium.

This advertising cover pictures Format 1- Volume 1 in the series. The other books are listed at the top of the envelope. Die Dore Bibel Gallerie is a German translation of Volume #1 and was included in this series beginning in 1892. (Thus, at that point there were seven titles in the series.)

In my opinion this is one of the rarest pieces of Altemus ephemera.

Pamphlet Advertising for Juvenile Series (1910-1911)

This 32 page advertising pamphlet advertises four different boys juvenile series: Motor Boat Club, Submarine Boys, Pony Rider Boys and High School Boys. There is an excerpt from each series and then a full page ad listing the books from the series. It is 6.5 x 4.5.

The pamphlet lists books published as late as 1910 but not any 1912 books.

This is the second Altemus advertising pamphlet that I have seen. Both only highlighted juvenile series.

Front Cover

Altemus message to "Young Booklovers"

Representative Pages

Altemus & Co. Postcard-1892

This is the only postcard I have seen with the Altemus and Co. imprint. It is dated November 17, 1892 and relates to a bill. This is a very unusual and scarce item.

Altemus letter- 1890's

Stationery/ Altemus Letter 1891

Although I have seen envelopes with the stamped Altemus return address, I have previously not seen stationery with the Altemus letterhead. Here is an example from 1891.

Interestingly the subject of this letter relates to a potential order from a firm in Curwensville. Just above there are two invoices/receipts from the Curwensville Bank. These invoices were written one month after the letter. Perhaps they are related.

Boys and Girls Classics (new)

Here is a new advertising flyer for this series of fifteen books. The one sheet advertisement which is 9 x 3.25 shows an example of a book cover and lists all of the books.

This series had a number of cover pictures all of which were made from different linen swatches. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series57.htm.

The books initially came in labeled boxes but later some were issued with dust jackets. Frequently there is confusion between these books and those from the Young People's Library. This is because the interiors of the books of the same title are identical including the title page which states "Young People's Library".

The date of publication can be confusing also since Altemus often put the copyright date on the title page. This series' books can be dated by studying the ads in the back of the book. The series was published between 1908 and 1926.

Shown below with the flyer are cover, box and dust jacket examples.