Q: I was wondering if you could tell me how old this book is and possibly how much it is worth

A: Your book was published in 1901-1902.

See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series143.htm

It has only nominal value.

This book like many of the books from this series, the Love and Friendship Series and the In His Name Series during any one year had an unchanging pattern on the left of the front cover. On the right of the cover however was one of 16 different flowers. They can be seen at the series site noted above.

I am frequently startled by the prices that sellers are asking for some of their Altemus books. Value and scarcity are not always related. Appreciate that the comments about Altemus pricing is my opinion which is certainly far from infallible.

Here are some examples. This book, Then Marched the Brave, is listed as a Buy It Now at $119.95. The seller notes that it is a first edition. The book comes from the Holly Tree Series (http://henryaltemus.com/series/series105.htm) and is relatively common. Unfortunately it is not the Altemus first edition. It is a second format edition. Also it has no dust jacket. Shown here is the first edition book and the later one which is for sale. I think a fair price would be $10, but the seller might have to wait to get even that amount. (The picture of the seller’s book is from this site-it is the same book listed however)
Listings on ABE and other sites have a gamut of prices asked for this book with and without a dust jacket. More interesting would be to return in a year and see what prices this title has sold for.

First Edition

Second Edition

Here is a another example. A book from the Annapolis Series listed at $99.99. No dust jacket is present. In the description it notes fair condition and a library stamp on the title page.
The books of this series are unbelievably common and this book in my opinion has absolutely no value. But someone thinks he can get a hundred bucks. Their eyes must be closed because clearly they are dreaming. Early books of this series with nice jackets might be worth half of this price.
http://henryaltemus.com/series/series2.htm

Two books with this format have been seen.
1. Emerson’s Essays
2. Representative Men

These books are pre-1900. They are somewhat larger than other Altemus series from this era at 7.125 x 4.75. Until I find a labeled box or a dust jacket, the series identity will remain unknown.

This leatherette maroon book came in a labeled box. Unfortunately the box does not note a series. No post-1900 series has In His Steps in its list. I have seen the book Lucile with this same cover with a different title page design. At this time I think this may be a non series book but I am listing on both pages because I am not sure.

Here is a new Dust jacket picture for the data base. It is a later Format 2 dust jacket.

For more information see http://henryaltemus.com/series/series110.htm

Here is a new picture for Series #105- Format 2 #6 Earliest.

For more information see http://henryaltemus.com/series/series105.htm

The five books of this series all have a full page colored frontispiece. As opposed to the other books, book #3-Animal Tales with Picture Puzzles and #1 Mother Goose’s Puzzle Pictures have frontispieces that do not match the cover of the book. Here are two examples.

For more information on Series 199, click here

Q: Hi there,
I have an old copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tanglewood Tales published by your company. I wonder if you could give me any information about this edition.
Thanks,

A: Your book was published between 1909-1912 as part of the Vademecum Series. It originally came within a red labeled box.

It is one of a myriad of Altemus reprints of this title.

It has only nominal value.

See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series180.htm

Q: I was looking around the homepage but someone had done such a good job, I just couldn’t find out information about the book I have. I bought my favorite play “Macbeth” (Half priced books) and when I got home a realized there is no information about it. As I learned it should be published around 1890’s but that’s all I know. It is different than others… the picture before the title page is different and the letters on the title page are black and red…
Title says:

Macbeth
by
William Shakespeare
with
The Historie of Macbeth
from Ralph Holinshed’s chronicles of Scotland, 1577
Philadelphia
Henry Altemus

There are no dates on the book. Has 192 pages. Thread binding.

I would be extremely happy if someone could help me out. And maybe let me know did I gain more than a great book.

A: The Shakespeare’s Plays Series included 33 books. It was published between 1899 and 1933. In 1899 the books listed Henry Altemus on the title page. Thereafter Henry Altemus Company was noted as the publisher. Thus, your book is an 1899 version. No real value but a nice book nonetheless.
For more information on Series 164, click here

Q: I would like to confirm the date of publishing of this book. It’s a curious read. I’ve enjoyed the artwork that was used on these books pictures on your site but have not come across this one yet. Thank you for any information you can share.

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series. It was published in 1907. For several years Altemus incorporated European paintings onto their covers. I have seen 42 different as of this date. Your picture is the far left of picture #8 and the far right of #2. http://henryaltemus.com/vademecum.htm