Monthly Archives: February 2014

Get Rich Quick Wallingford- George Randall Chester 1908

In 1908 Altemus published Get Rich Quick Wallingford by George Randolph Chester. George Randolph Chester (1869-1924) was an author, playwright and actor. This book was the first of a series of three books about a con man. It was the only one published by Henry Altemus. There was only one Altemus edition. A. L. Burt reprinted this title.

This story was serialized and first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post beginning in October 5, 1907. This magazine was published by the Curtis Publishing Company. Thus the Curtis 1907 copyright notation.


George Randolph Chester

Inspired by the success of the book Altemus planned to publish his next book: The Making of Bobby Burnit. On February 27, 1909 the advertisement below (on the left) appeared in Publishers’ Weekly.

This title was never mentioned again in any of the Altemus catalogues or in any other Henry Altemus book trade advertisement. It is obviously an Altemus phantom title.

Later Bobbs Merrill Company published The Making of Bobby Burnit in June, 1909.

Bess Goe Willis (1871-1957)

This artist illustrated a number of Wee Books. She executed all of the drawings for the five book Little Sallie Mandy Series as well as several Wee Folks Peter Rabbit books and a few other Wee Books for Wee Folks titles.

For the entire list see http://henryaltemus.com/search/authorsearch.php?x=willis&Submit=Go

I received correspondence from Ms. Willis’ family. They related a bit of her history and a nice picture.

“Bess was born on February 24, 1871 and in her childhood lived in the Pittsburgh area. Her father, Henry Bateman Goe, owned a tannery there and had considerable wealth. However, when Bess was 16 years old, he lost his fortune. At some point in her youth, Bess went to New York City and was enrolled in art school there. She passed away on July 17,1957 in Malone, New York.”

Question & Answer Series 130 Marqueterie Series

Q: Hi, I have a copy of Joseph Addison’s Days With Sir Roger De Coverly as displayed below. The first several pages have detached from the binding but all pages are in nice condition. What is your opinion of the book, please?

A: This book is part of the Marqueterie Series and was published in 1899.

All of the titles in this series are reprints. Although the cover is quite attractive unless the title is very collectible, a book in this series has very limited value.

Question & Answer Series 180 Vademecum Series

Q: Can u help determine the year this book was published and if so if it’s valuable
The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter scott.

A: In 1903 the Vademecum Series was published with the basic cover that your book has with one of more than 40 European paintings within the cover template.

Because of the width of the original paintings, two books may have parts of the same painting but may look totally different because they have different sections of the painting on their covers.

Since all of the titles in the Vademecum Series are reprints, only very collectible ones have any value. Unfortunately your book is not in that group.
It will be a hard sell at any price.

Question & Answer Series 143 Petit Trianon Series

Q: What can you tell me about this book please (Black Beauty)? The spine shows it was published by Altemus but I can find no publishing date, etc in it. Thank you in advance.

A: Many of Altemus’ publisher’s series had various types and styles of artwork on the front covers. (See section on Publisher’s Series). In 1903-1904 one of the formats of the Petit Trianon Series was half vellum on the left. The right half either had floral pictures or there was an art nouveau illustration of a young lady in various poses. At this time two different illustrations have been seen that were initially posters done by Alphonse Mucha.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a well known Czech artist who excelled in the art nouveau arena with works designed for magazine covers, books, posters etc. It is most likely that Altemus appropriated these works for some of their covers without paying royalties. Mucha was not given credit within the books where his work appeared on the covers.

Question & Answer Series 124 Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series

Q: I was wondering How much this book was worth? its from 1920, its called Little Bunnie Bunniekin and it still has its dust cover. Just let me know whenever you find out! thank you

A: This book is the first in the eight book Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series.

The books in this series were published in one main format. It has the appliqué on the cover surrounded by a simple drawing of a house, trees and fence. The dust jacket matches the book.

When this book was first released in 1920 it was part of the Wee Books for Wee Folks Series but by the next year (1921), it was incorporated into the newly named Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series.

In 1928 a variant format was published which has an appliqué that encompasses the entire front cover.

The jacketed books of this series generally sell for between $20-$50.

Non Series format of Jester Life Series’ Books

Altemus published the Jester Life Series beginning in 1909. Prior to that date a number of the titles (see list below) from that series were published in the same format.

This format is the first edition of Sweethearts and Beaux and Wisdom of the Wise and the Folly of the Foolish. It is a later edition for the other books listed.

The copyrights of these books are noted below.

Sweethearts and Beaux 1905
At the Sign of the Golden Calf 1905
Don’ts for Boys 1902
Don’ts for Girls 1902
Naked Truths and Veiled Allusions 1901
Wisdom of the Foolish and the Folly of the Wise 1903
Book of Toasts 1902

All of these books were authored by Minna Thomas Antrim.

Between 1903 and 1908 these books had a stereotyped design on the left side of the cover and various decorative patterns on the right half of the cover.
The title and author’s name is stamped in gold gilt within the left sided pattern. (A green lettered variant has been seen).

Examples are shown here. Note that all of the decorative patterns on the left of the cover are rather plain and/or simplistic.

Question & Answer Altemus Bible

Q: The attached pictures show what I believe to be an 1892 version. Is it a rare or valuable version? Other than the cover the pages are in pristine condition.

Thank you for your assistance.

A: Altemus published Bibles between the 1870’s and the late 1890’s. So far 59 different covers have been seen with these oversized Bibles. This cover is #B41.
The Bibles have a number of possible different sections:

1. Old and New Testament
2. Dore Illustrations
3. Marriage Certificate and Family Registration
4. Revised Version Appended
5. Apocrypha, Concordance, Psalms on Metre
6. Smith’s Dictionary
7. Bible History and Analysis
8. Cyclopedia of the Bible
9. Dictionary of Names
10. Notes and commentary by Rev. Walter McGilvray

The more expensive deluxe formats have the most sections. Some bindings are also fancier than others.

Because these books are so heavy, they are commonly found with broken bindings.

They usually sell for between $50-$125.

Question & Answer Series 150 Popular Series of Famous Authors

Q: I am trying to find out about this book (Drummond’s Addresses). It is signed in front by person giving as a gift on December 25, 1893. Dont know if there is any collector value or not. If you could please advise I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

A: This book is part of the seven volume Popular Series of Famous Authors.

This series was published in 1893. The left half of the covers have a stereotyped decorative pattern on the vellum. The right half has various designs and the author and title in gilt. The books have dust jackets. Drummond’s Addresses is #1 in the series.

All of the titles in this series are reprints and consequently have limited value.

Question & Answer Series 48 Beauxarts Series

Q: I have had this edition of Paradise Lost for a while now. I attempted to look it up and think that it is a 1902 Beauxart series, but I cannot find any similar items online. Could you verify that information for me, and possibly tell me a bit more about it? Thank you for your time and consideration.

A: You are correct about the series and the year of publication: Beauxarts Series – 1902

It was originally sold within a labeled box. An example is pictured.

It is one of a myriad of reprints of this title that were published by numerous publishing houses in the 1890-1910 era.

Since the title is quite common, it has little value to most collectors. The exception might be someone who really likes the cover design or a person who collects this title and does not have this edition.