Q: Attached is a photo of one of the 2 books of Emerson’s Essays that I own. I searched around on your website a little and couldn’t find any other volumes in this style. Can you tell me an approximate age and value and any advice on where to offer these for sale. I’m not sure just listing on Ebay is the best.

These volumes were passed down in our family and are truly beautiful.

A: Your book is part of the Beauxarts Series and was published in 1897. It originally came in a labeled box.

Regardless of where you try to sell it, this book only has nominal value.

This book was published by Altemus in numerous series. None of the series have this cover format however. The book is 5.5 x 4.25.

It cannot be dated exactly but any Altemus book that has “Printed in the United States of America” at the base of the copyright page was published in 1922 or later.

Two series that included Gold Dust were published after 1922. These include “Life of Service Series” and “Slip in the Pocket Classics“. Both of these series featured books of the same size but neither have a format similar to this cover.

Until a second book with this cover is found, this book will have to be classified as an “unknown series”.

Q: I can’t find any info on this little green book can u help me. Thanks. Little Black Sambo and the Tiger Kitten

A: Your book is a late reprint of an original publication of the Henry Altemus Company. It originally came with a dust jacket. Publication date was the late 1930’s.

For more see: Platt and Munk

Q: Hi could you give me any info on this book (Weird Tales). Copyright 1895 by Henry Altemus
Thank you.

A: Your book was published in 1899 as part of the Marqueterie Series.

It is a reprint and has minimal value.

Of note is that occasionally a Poe collector will pay a bit more for Poe reprints. Finding that buyer can be difficult however.

Q: Hi, I am looking for a value for this book. It was passed down by my grandmother but I don’t know anything about it except what I learned on your page:

Beauxarts Series (earlier numbering)
Publish: 1897-1898
Series:47
Volume 109 (Song of Hiawatha)
Format 2

A: Books from the various Altemus publisher’s series are reprints and unless they are titles of special interest to collectors, have no significant value. Frequently sellers confuse age/scarcity with value.

These books are quite common and generally are very hard to sell.

For information about this series see Beauxarts Series.

Q: Hi, I tried to send these pics through my work email. I am trying to send through my personal email this time. I hope you get them. The Prince of the House of David

A: This book is part of the Beauxarts Series and was published in 1897. It originally came within a labeled box. During this year the books of this series were published in a number of different colors. Some are shown below.
Your book is a reprint and has nominal (if any) value.

Q: I am trying to figure out the publishing date of this book (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). I have read your website, but things do not match up because this was given to my aunt’s mom in 1900. I have included the front cover pic as well as publisher page but it oddly shows no date. I have never seen a book without a date?
Thanks for any info.
Appreciate it very much.

A: Most books of this era have no date.

It is part of Series 58 Boys and Girls Series. This series published books between 1899 and 1906. Because your book’s title page says Henry Altemus Company and since Altemus incorporated in 1900, we know that it was published in 1900 or later. The inscription from Xmas 1900 tells us it was published no later than that date. Thus a 1900 publication is presumed.

Q: I see that this book (The Cricket on the Hearth) is a reprint. The book says copyright 1899 but the web site says 1901. I found this book in an antique shop and picked it up for 12.00. The pages seem to be loose and one of the pages were taped back in. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me what the value of this book is. Thank you for your time.

A: This book is part of Series 180 Vademecum Series. It was published in 1901. As you noted, it is a reprint and as such it has very little value. Altemus published this title in hundreds of formats and since the title is not a “special” one, there is very little demand for it.

I think you would be lucky to sell it for more than a couple of dollars.

Q: Hello, Thank you for your comprehensive web site…very interesting. Please at a look a the attached picture and let me know if you can tell an approximate date? Drummond’s Addresses

A: This book is part of the Devotional Series. This particular format was published between 1898 and 1924. The series was perhaps the longest running of all of the Altemus series. Between 1895 and 1933 it had nine different formats. This format is number 5. It was published in various colors. See below for others. It also was published originally within a labeled box.

To narrow the date down further the ads in the back of the book would be helpful.

Another Altemus bindery product– American Politics by Thomas V. Cooper C. R. Brodix, Chicago 1884

Generally 19th century books bound by Altemus are hard to identify. That is not so much the case however for the turn of the century books. Here is an 1894 publication published by C. R. Brodix. This Chicagoland firm noted Henry Altemus as the binder on the copyright page. This same title was published in 1883 by the Fireside Publishing Company and also bound by Henry Altemus.