Henry Altemus Company

Ephemera

This 1884 item printed by Altemus appears to be a promissory note. This "check" is different from previous ones seen as noted by the picture not present on others.

Ephemera

Here is an early check made out by an employee of Altemus & Co. Of interest is a reference seen which referred to J. S. Young and Altemus regarding an 1865 donation to Union causes.

Photographic Albums

Here is another advertising trade card for photographic albums. Its date is unclear since it was not found within a book or album.

Although it is similar to the card above, there are several differences. This card stresses the Hinge-Back nature of the albums with that phrase on both sides. The other card does not mention the Hinge-Back album.

These advertising cards are very scarce.

Non Series #109 Paul and Virginia

This flyer was found in non series book #28 Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. This book was published from 1890 to the late 1890's. The flyer is the same size (10.5 x 6) and of a similar style as the flyers previously described for the Dore's Masterpieces.http://henryaltemus.com/flyers/flyer-S78.htm

This one page advertisement advertises two different Paul and Virginia books that were published between 1891 and 1897. In 1898 the cheaper Paul and Virginia book was published at $1.50 and the $3.00 was discontinued.

As has been noted before, it is my belief that all the early non-series Altemus books were advertised using these flyers. Finding them is another matter.

Altemus & Co. Ledger/ Blank Books

This ledger was published by Altemus & Co. The exact date cannot be determined but the book contains information that is dated in 1925. Altemus & Co. was at the Fourth Street address at that time. The Altemus stamp as shown below is pasted on the inside front cover of the book. A careful inspection does not reveal any mention of Altemus on the binding or anywhere else within the ledger. The ledger is 9.5 x 12. On the spine the name of the owner is embossed in gold.

Altemus Bindery

Here is another example from the Altemus bindery. This book, Christmas Blossoms and New Year's Wreath from 1849 by Uncle Thomas, was published by E.H. Butler & Co. As can be seen, the words Altemus Binder are engraved at the bottom of the book within the gilt pattern.

Altemus & Co. Books

Although the main imprints used by Altemus were Henry Altemus and Henry Altemus Company, the Altemus & Co. imprint can be found on early Bibles from the 1870's, scrapbooks and photograph albums. The Altemus & Company press also printed various volumes for groups mostly in and around Philadelphia. These books were generally produced in small quantities and are quite scarce.

Examples are The Tenth Annual Report of the Women's Christian Association of Germantown in 1881, the By-Laws of the Kensington Hospital for Women in 1867, and a small booklet entitled the Bachelors Barge Club of Philadelphia. This latter volume published in 1914 is shown below.

Interestingly enough this small book lists the names of the members of the Barge Club and when they joined. Henry Altemus Sr.'s four sons, all who were involved with the publishing Company, were members. Henry Jr., Howard, Robert and Roland.

Altemus Bindery

Here is an example of the Altemus book bindery. This book, The Poetical Works of Rogers, Campbell, J. Montgomery, Lamb Kirke White was published by Grigg & Elliot, a Philadelphia company, in 1847. If you look very closely at the top of the book's front cover, you can see the words J. T. Altemus ...Binder Philad. This shows again the difficulty of finding Altemus bindings in the 1840's and 1850's.

Altemus Bindery

The Leaflets of Memory books were published yearly during the 1840's and 1850's. Previously an 1850 book bound by Altemus has been shown. Now from the same series an 1851 book also published by E.H. Butler has been discovered. As with the previous book, there is nothing that indicates the Altemus bindery on the cover. Mr. Altemus is mentioned in the "advertisement" (preface) of the book as the binder.

The 1851 book is the seventh in the series. I do not know how many (if any) other books beside the 1850 and 1851 were bound by Altemus.

Envelope

Here is a pre-1900 Altemus envelope. The Henkel & Co. Printers and Publishers was founded in 1806. It still operates today.