Henry Altemus Company

Benevolent Order of Elks Bible

There are a number of examples in which Altemus did a small print run of a book for a private organization. This Bible (B60) appears to have been specially made for "The Elks".

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks initials and symbol is engraved in gold gilt on the front of this Bible. There are no other identifying marks on the Bible.

Altemus published Bibles as noted above until the late 1890's. This Bible was published after 1900 given that the Altemus incorporation is indicated on the title page.

This Bible is simpler in substance than most Altemus Bibles. None of the extra features usually seen, i.e. pages for family information, Smith's dictionary, dictionary of names, etc. are included in this book. The cover and spine are different from any 19th century Altemus Bible and are plainer.

Also of note is the change at the bottom of the title page. The usual "and there was light" has been changed to "The Light of the World".

Post-1900 Titlepage

American Circular and Trade Gazette 1859

Montgomery Ward & Co. Publication (Bible)

As has been noted before, Altemus occasionally did publishing for other companies. It did a Shakespeare's Works for Gusky's Department Store. Here is an example of a Bible that was published for Montgomery Ward & Co. The cover is B11 (See: http://henryaltemus.com/bibles/bibles.htm) which was published between 1894 and 1896. It appears that all Altemus did is replace its imprint with that of the department store giant.

1880 Altemus & Co. Ephemera

This little advertising calendar (3.875 x 2.375) from 1880 from Altemus & Co. points out the company's ability to manufacture whatever type of book the client wanted. At this time Altemus had not been routinely publishing reading books on its own imprint. Bibles, photographic albums and scrapbooks were the mainstay of their own imprint's publishing business but Altemus was very busy publishing for the needs of others.

Altemus & Co. Books - The Talisman by Henry D. Moore

The Altemus & Co. imprint can be found on Photographic albums, scrapbooks and a handful of other publications. Books with this imprint are quite scarce. Here is an example of a book with the Altemus & Co imprint. This title (The Talisman) was first published by Hogan and Thompson, a Philadelphia publisher, in 1851.

The date of the Altemus publication is unclear. Based on the use of this imprint plus the style of the book a date between 1851 and the 1870's is my best guess.

This is definitely the earliest Altemus & Co imprint that I have seen with exception of some photographic albums.

The book has gold gilt edges and measures 6.5 x 9.5.

Non Series #84- Klondike and the Yukon Country

Here is an interesting flyer that advertises Klondike written by L.A. Coolidge. It is 5.75 x 3.5. This piece was put out by the Thomson Stationery Company located in Vancouver. Two Klondike books are noted. The Coolidge authored book was published in 1897 by Altemus.

The first edition was published in 1897 in both wraps and hardcover. Later in 1897 Altemus did a second printing which included several new chapters.

The first edition had 213 pages plus ads. The later edition had 251 pages.

Gusky's Publication

The four volume Shakespeare non series set was first published in 1891. Interestingly this set has been discovered with the Gusky Store of Pittsburgh imprint on the title page and Henry Altemus 1891 on the copyright page. With the exception of the imprint and the elegantly decorated end papers in the Altemus book, the four volume Altemus set is identical to the four volume Gusky set. It would appear that Altemus published this set for Gusky to sell in his store. Although I have seen some non-Altemus advertising in several other Altemus books, I have never seen a book that Altemus published for a department store. This is especially interesting considering that the Gusky set potentially could compete with the Altemus set. It is unclear at this time exactly what year the Gusky set was published (I assume in the early 1890's) and what sort of deal the Gusky Store and Altemus had. Of note is that there are no books with the Gusky imprint listed for sale anywhere that I can find on the web.

J.M. Gusky (1845-1886) bought out a mercantile establishment called S. Cohen in 1882. He renamed it the Gusky Store. The Gusky Store is considered by most to be Pittsburgh's first department store. The store occupied five stories and sold mainly a variety clothing. After Gusky's death from pneumonia his wife owned the business and the De Wolf brothers managed it. By 1888 it had more than two million dollars in sales.

Stock Certificate

This stock certificate from the Packer Coal Company was printed by Altemus & Company. The signer, Israel Morris, bought 38 shares in 1885. Of note is that the Packer Coal Company which was located in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was founded by Asa Packer, the founder of Lehigh University. (My daughter's school). Of further interest is that the signer Israel Morris was a well known and well connected Philadelphia businessman.

As noted before, Altemus & Company did various types of printing in the 1800's. Stock certificates are only one example. This is the second different company's certificate printed by Altemus that I have located. I suspect that there are more. ( The Altemus & Co. imprint is on the lower left of the certificate.)

Photographic Album

I found a new Altemus photographic advertising card today. All three cards seen here are very similar and yet there are subtle differences between the cards. This card has the familiar eagle on the front but above the eagle there is no writing as in card 2a. Below the ALTEMUS & COs lettering but above the words Photographic Albums, this card has the words Patent Hinge Back as does card 2a but not card 1a. Thus this card is different from the other two cards but not by much.

The reverse of this card is the same as card 2b. The card is 2.375 x 3.875.

The album this card was found in was the typical 1860's to 1890's album. It has 25 pages each of which hold two cards-one on each side. It is 6 x 5.5.

See below.

3a

3b

Photographic Album

A new photographic album has been discovered. Although the copyright belongs to Henry Altemus 1888 it was actually published by the Lovell Manufacturing Company in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is unlike any Altemus album that I have seen. The copyright must stem from the use of Altemus' patented binding.

The history of the Lovell Manufacturing Company can be found at http://www.lovellplace.com/history.html in which the authors have written a great summary of the company.

The Album which is called Photo Art Gallery has 16 pages all 8 x 10. Each page can hold one cabinet card on the front and on the back. Surrounding the card on each side are the pictures of famous people in various areas of society. Each page is different and has 10 pictures. (See below) There is an index in the back which alphabetically lists all of the portraits. It does appear that each page has its own specialized area, That is, a presidents' page, an authors' page, a soldiers' page, etc.

The cover is made up of a red velvet material with embossed lettering on the front which says Photo Gallery.

This is indeed a very rare and special album.