After the patent for the hinged back design was awarded to Altemus in 1863 most of the photographic albums had elegantly embossed designs with gold gilt on their covers. (http://henryaltemus.com/albums/photoalbums.htm)

There were some more elaborately designed albums however. Here is an example. This 9 x 11 book has gold metallic decorative pieces on the front cover.

This large album has 25 pages and can hold 200 pictures.

I am adding a new cover color to the database for this Format 1 #2 book in the Dore’s Masterpieces Series (http://henryaltemus.com/series/series78.htm)
The books of this format were published in fine English cloth. A number of different color covers have been noted. Today’s new cover is green. Other examples are also shown.

This book is incredibly common and by and large does not justify the high prices that are frequently asked for this title. Currently there are three copies of this book for sale on Ebay ($50-$180). On ABE there are 12 copies for sale from $20 to $380).

Leinbach and Co., a Reading, Pennsylvania clothier, used Henry Altemus books as advertising vehicles as early as 1893 and as late as 1915. On the cover (front or back) “Compliments of Leinbach & Bro” was stamped in gold gilt. Then in the front and the back of the book a one page glossy ad for Leinbach was bound in.

A number of examples are shown at http://henryaltemus.com/ephemera/leinbach.htm.

Here is an 1894 book that has the typical gold stamping on the front cover and the bound in glossy advertising pages. In this instance there has been no change in the ads since 1893.

Today I am adding a picture to the Format 2 covers of this series. Now all twelve Format 2 books are pictured. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series105.htm.
The early Format 2 books had decorated end papers. These books were published in 1909-1910. After 1910 the Format 2 books had plain end papers.

Here is a new picture for the database. The first format of this series (all ten books) has a line drawn illustration on the front cover. The first six books were published in 1908. The last four books were first published in 1909.

Determining the first edition of the first six books is quite easy. These books list only six books in the ad in the front (see below). The later books of the first format list all ten books in the front.

Note also the cover differences between the first and second editions of this book. The boy on the first edition has a green shirt whereas the later edition boy is wearing an orange shirt.

For more detailed dating information see Mother Stories Series.

First Edition

Later Edition

First Edition ad page

This publisher’s series was printed between 1897 and 1902. During this print run there were four different cover formats. Basically there were different covers for different years. The 1897 cover is shown below. I am adding an eighth color variant (the light blue book) to the database of the 1897 books today.