Q: I have been having a hard time finding information and pricing for this edition of John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies. Would you happen to know anything about it?
Thanks,
A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series and was published in 1897. The books of this series are all reprints.
See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series179.htm
Your book only has nominal value.
Q: Hello,
I have attached some photos of the book (Nature, Addresses and Lectures) I have questions about. I found this years ago in an old abandoned house and thought it looked really old. I was just curious you could tell me if its worth anything (monetarily) and about how much. Probably going to hold on to it for awhile but was just curious if it was valuable.
A: Your book is a reprint and was published in 1901 as part of the Riviere Series. This series consisted of only 87 books and is therefore one of the smaller Altemus publisher’s series. All of the titles are reprints. Originally the books came with a dust jacket. The plastic like purple flower is somewhat difficult to find in great shape.
More information can be found at http://henryaltemus.com/series/series158.htm.
It only has nominal value.
Q: To Whom it may concern,
I have a very old Henry Altemus publication of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.
It was given to me by my 92 year old Mother.
She received it from hers who was 101 when she died.
I don’t think for a moment that the signature is authentic but I would like to know more about it.
I have attached some photos of this book for you to peruse.
I hope you may be able to shed some light on it’s history.
A: This book is part of the Yuletide Series which was published between 1912 and 1916.
See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series203.htm
The books of this series originally came within a labeled box.
Since Dickens died in 1870 the signature, as you guessed, the signature is not authentic.
Generally this book sells between $10-25.
Altemus published a number of publisher’s series in the 1890′s and early 1900′s. These series consisted of numerous reprints of poetry, fiction, the classics, essays, etc. Each series had a unique decorative cover. These series’ covers changed every year or so for the series which were long lasting.
The Diplome D’Honneur Series was published only in 1902 and only had 50 different titles. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series76.htm.
Thus this is perhaps the rarest of the Altemus publisher’s series. What makes it interesting is its cover. It is half-white vellum on the left with a decorative pattern. On the right half of the cover is brocaded satin in one of several colors. Altemus only published this series with satin covers. I suspect it was to give the consumer a greater selection of decorative books to choose from. The books originally came boxed.
Today I am adding two new cover pictures for this series to the database. Five different satin covers have now been seen.
This series was introduced in 1894 with a three book boxed set. Starting in 1895 the books of this series were published in two book boxed sets.
(http://henryaltemus.com/series/series77.htm) This early three boxed set is incredibly rare.
As I have noted before all Altemus published books originally came boxed or in a dust jacket.
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It is always special to find a book inscribed by the author. Here and there over the years I have discovered a few Altemus published books with author inscriptions.
Here is an example.
Ruth McEnery Stuart (1849 or 1852-1917) was mainly known as an author of “Negro dialect books”. She developed her writing style utilizing experiences from her birth state of Louisiana and subsequent years in Arkansas. In 1891 she moved to New York City where she spent the rest of her days.
Her only Altemus book is George Washington Jones- A Christmas Gift that Went A-Begging. It was published in 1903. There are five glossy illustrations done by Edward Potthast. http://www.henryaltemus.com/images/NS_57.htm
Stuart presented the book shown here in 1911 to Florence Hall Colgate. Interestingly, Colgate’s engagement to Major St. John Greble is noted in 1917 in the New York Times. Her father was Gilbert Colgate, president and chairman of the Board of Colgate & Co.(of Colgate-Palmolive fame). His five children divided up his three million dollar estate upon his death in 1932.
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This early Altemus publisher’s series has forty one books in its list. They are all reprints. In Format 1 (of Four formats) each book has a unique cover. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series37.htm for examples. Although it is frequently held that these books from the early 1890′s did not have dust jackets, this is generally not true. All Altemus books either came boxed or with a dust jacket.
The first format books of the Altemus Library had dust jackets. Here is an example from book #26 Heroes and Hero Worship. This book was published in 1893.
Interestingly, there is an earlier and later format of the reverse of the 1893 Altemus Library dust jacket. The later one prices the Half Genuine English Calf Altemus Library book at $2.00 whereas on the earlier one the price in $1.75.
Dust Jacket Front |
1893 Dust Jacket later |
1893 Dust Jacket earlier |
In the first format of this series, there is a common left sided cover design with one of sixteen possible flower pictures on the right side of the cover.
Here is a new flower picture for the first format. The database now shows has five different flower pictures.
Q: I have taken the liberty of attaching very bad photos of a book left to me by an Aunt. The book is titled “Drummond’s Addresses” and seems to have a copyright date of 1891. Any information you could offer me on this book would be greatly appreciated.
A: Your book was published in 1901 as part of the La Belle Fleur Series.
See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series115.htm
It is a reprint and only has nominal value.
Q: I have this copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from 1898 but I have not seen one with this particular cover on-line. I would like to sell it but it’s hard to tell what it’s worth when I haven’t seen another like it. Would you be able to tell me more about it and who I might call to find out its worth? The fabric is quite torn on the binding.
A: Your book is part of the Young People’s Library Format 4.
It is pictured here: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series202F4.htm
It was published between 1923 and 1933. The copyright is not the same as the publication date with your book.
Without the dust jacket it has only nominal value.
