Q: My mother was given this book (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) and I found it going through some of her things. Could you tell me anything about it?

A: This book is part of the Waistcoat Pocket Series.

The ten book series was published between 1906 and 1921. These miniature books came in several formats and sizes. They all were originally sold within a labeled box. An example of a box is shown here.

Covers of limp lambskin, velvet calf and boards have all been seen.

Q: I have The Merchant of Venice, with The Adventures of Giannetto, and other Illustrative Pieces. There are no dates, and the book itself is small in size. I bought it at an antique shop and was curious about how old it is and if it has any value other than how much I like it. Can you assist me?

A: This book was published in 1903 as part of the Vademecum Series.
This series is comprised of numerous reprints of fiction, essays, poetry, etc.

The cover of this format has been seen in numerous colors. In addition the painting on the cover of your book is one of more than forty that have been noted.

These books originally came within a labeled box. An example is shown here.

Q: This book (Rip Van Winkle) has been in my possession for over 50 years, given to me by my Mother and I was wondering if it has any value, other than sentimental? Thank you for any information you can give me.

A: This book is part of the Series 202 the Young People’s Library, Format 3. Originally it had a dust jacket. This format was published between 1903 and 1923. All of the titles of this series were published originally with a dust jacket.

Unless the title has special significance to collectors, there is little value. Your book is in this category.

Of unrelated interest is the variant cover that has been noted. It is shown here. It is common for Altemus to vary some colors on the cover of a book that is published over many years.

Q: Hi there,
Looking at your website, I was able to find a similar book cover – but not quite the same linen print. This one that has been in the family since 1911 (inscribed as a gift)

Can you tell me a bit more about the book? Is it part of series 57? sw-1 seems to be the best match. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

A: You are right. This book is part of the fifteen book Boys and Girls Classics Series.

This series was published between 1908 and 1926. The books mostly used the same internal text as well as the title pages from the earlier Young People’s Library books. Your book as well as the others of this series originally came within a labeled floral decorated box (shown here).

A number of different linen cover patterns have been seen. They are shown on the series page. I have arbitrarily numbered them -yours is “Swatch 1”. I believe it is the most common of the various covers. It was published from 1908 until the early teens.

Q: Dear Altemus book expert,
I recently acquired this very old and also very tattered version of Peter Rabbit. I am almost afraid to touch this book. I am not a collector although, I might have just become one. This book has made me quite confused and I have a couple questions I was hoping you could answer since you were the publisher. Can you please guide me as to what exactly I should do with this book to preserve it, what I should do if I keep it, and how do I go about selling this book to somebody and also in finding its value?

A: The Tale of Peter Rabbit appeared initially in the six book Wee Books for Wee Folks Series.

Altemus published Peter Rabbit in three different formats. The first format which is the rarest was published only in 1904. It is pictured here. It has line drawn pictures on the end papers. Originally it was sold boxed with the Foolish Fox book. It is 5.5 x 4.25.

Your book is the first American edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

It is certainly the rarest of the Altemus Peter Rabbit books and generally the most valuable. Unfortunately, it probably would cost more to repair this book than it is worth.

For more information see http://henryaltemus.com/peter_rabbit/peterrabbit.htm

Q: Hi can you send me information regarding the attached book (Grimm’s Fairy Tales). The cover is not shown in your posting.

A: The Young People’s Library is a series of books for juveniles. There were four formats which are easily distinguished by their covers and spines. This book which has the appliqué on the front cover is part of Format 4. This format was published between 1923 and 1933. Because of this ten year span, these books are relatively common.

The dust jacket matches the book’s cover.

This cover as well as other pictures of the books in this series are shown here: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series202F4.htm

Q: Hi – I found this old book of my Grandmothers, and I was wondering if it’s worth hanging on to. It’s Paradise Lost Vol 1 with a copyright of 1899. It’s not in great shape. See attached picture. Thanks for your time!

A: This book was published in 1899-1900. As with most of the Petit Trianon books, the left side of the cover has a stereotyped pattern and the right half of the front cover has various different patterns. In some years it is floral and in other years more decorative. So far 27 different patterns have been seen with this format.

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

This years’ titles also came in a labeled box. An example is shown here.

This four book series has four formats. (High School Girl Series) The second format (1915-1924) has two different dust jacket pictures. The earlier is the same as the first format books. Two variants of this cover dust jacket have been seen. No priority is known.

The only difference between the two books is the blue versus red lettered title. The book cover, advertisements and text are otherwise identical.

The second and later format dust jackets have been seen with four different cover color variations.

Earliest of this format

Later of this format

Latest of this format

Also noted in this second style of Format 2 is a brown uncoated dust jacket. Generally this paper was only seen in the earlier pre-1915 books. This book and one other I have seen were published (Based on the back of the book advertisements in the 1920’s.

Q: Would you kindly tell me if this book (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) has any value….(aside from the bountiful wisdom within!)

Inside page says “Philadelphia. Henry Altemus Company”. So it is apparently post 1900
Book measures 6.25 x 4.25
I can’t find any dates whatsoever.

Thank you very much.

A: Your book was published between 1909 and 1912 as part of the Vademecum Series.

It originally came in a labeled box. An example is shown here.

All the books in this series are reprints so unless your book has a very collectable title it will have only nominal value.

Q: I found this black beauty book in my storage… could you tell me more about it?

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series and was originally sold within a labeled box. It was published in 1903.

It is a reprint and has limited value.

The painting on the front comes from a larger picture. You can see details here: http://henryaltemus.com/vademecum.htm