Q: Worth of 1895 copy of Oliver Wendel Holmes Poems. Good condition. (Disregard stamp.) Thanks.

A: This book was published in 1897 as part of the Beauxarts Series. It is a reprint of a not very collectible title and thus has only nominal value.

Q: Hello, I was wondering if you could provide me with more info on this copy of Treasure Island. Thank you for your time.

A: Your book was published in 1897 as part of the Beauxarts Series.
The 1897 books in this series were published with a number of different color covers. See below.

It is a reprint and only has nominal value.

Buyer beware is a very appropriate expression when it comes to purchasing items on Ebay. Fortunately as opposed to many sites where books are for sale (Amazon, ABE, ETSY, etc., etc.,) most of the Ebay books come with pictures that can save the day and prevent a bad buy. I thought I would highlight some of these mistakes in the next few blogs.

Here is the Ebay blurb:
Essays of Elia -Charles Lamb – copyright 1899 1st. Ed. Hardcover Lit & Fiction

The Reality:
The Essays of Elia were first published in 1823 and 1833. Hundreds of publishing houses did reprints of this title.

The book shown here is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1899-1900.

Atemus first published this title in 1893 in its Altemus Library.

Thus not a true first edition nor an Altemus first edition.

Buyer beware is a very appropriate expression when it comes to purchasing items on Ebay. Fortunately as opposed to many sites where books are for sale (Amazon, ABE, ETSY, etc., etc.,) most of the Ebay books come with pictures that can save the day and prevent a bad buy. I thought I would highlight some of these mistakes in the next few blogs.

Here is the Ebay blurb:
TALES FROM SHAKSPEARE by Charles & Mary Lamb, Henry Altemus Co, PA, 1st Edition

Now the reality: The first edition of this title was published in 1807 and reprinted hundreds of times. This book is from the Altemus’ Vademecum Series and was published between 1909 and 1912.
But Altemus first published this title in 1892 in its Altemus Library.

Thus neither a true first edition or an Altemus first edition.

Buyer beware is a very appropriate expression when it comes to purchasing items on Ebay. Fortunately as opposed to many sites where books are for sale (Amazon, ABE, ETSY, etc., etc.,) most of the Ebay books come with pictures that can save the day and prevent a bad buy. I thought I would highlight some of these mistakes in the next few blogs.

Series #4 Battleship Boys
Here is the blurb with its pictures:

The Battleship Boys in the Tropics 1912 1st Edition Frank Gee Patchin Honduras
The Battleship Boys in the Tropics or, Upholding the American Flag in a Honduras Revolution

By Frank Gee Patchin

Philadelphia:
Henry Altemus Company
1912 (1st Edition)

Approx Size: 5 x 7.75 inches (13 x 19.5 cms)
Hardback. 212, [4] (ads) printed pages

Now for the reality:

At the base of the copyright page you can see Printed in the U. S. A. This appeared on Altemus books beginning in about 1922.

Next the book has 212 pages. All of the juvenile series books had about 250 pages until they were abridged in 1930. Then the number of pages were cut to about 210-212.

Finally the first edition cover has colors as can be seen below.

Thus this is a post-1930 book and clearly not a first edition.

For help with dating an Altemus juvenile series book see: http://henryaltemus.com/juveniles/

Q: I’ve found this book (J. Cole) & not finding it on your site. I would love to have more information on it, at least a date. I’d be grateful for any information you can give though.

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series and was published in 1900. It is a reprint and only has nominal value.

In 1900 his format was published in a number of different color covers. Some are shown below.

Today I am adding a new dust jacket picture for this series.

These books are relatively easy to date with or without the dust jacket.

The copyright of this title is 1920. On the bottom of the copyright page it states “Printed in the United States of America”. This phrase appeared on Altemus copyright pages beginning in 1922.

Between 1926 and 1931 the endpapers were grayish. This narrows down the publication date a bit more.

Finally the ads in the back of the book narrow the publication date down further. The latest book listed is Wee Folks’ Robinson Crusoe which was published in 1929. Thus 1929 is the date. 1930 books are not listed.

For more information see: http://www.henryaltemus.com/wee_books/index.htm

This title was published by the Henry Altemus Company in both cloth and ooze calf editions.

The cloth editions were priced at 50 cents (earliest), 60 cents and 75 cents (latest). The cloth books were published in different colors without known priorities but the dust jackets do differ between editions. Two jackets are shown below. I have not seen the jacket for the 50 cents book as of yet. Note the book’s price on the dust jacket cover.

The ooze calf edition cost $1.25 and originally came within a labeled box. The books are 5.75″ x 3.75″.

Generally, Altemus books published in 1922 or later state “Printed in the United States of America” at the bottom of the copyright page. Since none of these books note that blurb, they were all published prior to 1922.

All of the editions/formats have the identical 96 pages of sayings that are attributable to Abraham Lincoln.

Dust jacket of 60 cent books	Dust Jacket of 75 cent book	Book cover

Book cover	Ooze calf edition	Title page of all the books

See also Non Series #1

Q: This book has no copyright page. Can you tell me the date of my book? The Song of Hiawatha

A: This book is part of the Petit Trianon Series. This particular cover was published in 1903-1904. During these two years the left half of the cover pictured a pedestal with the title above it. On the right half of the cover was one of sixteen different flowers.

The titles in this series are all reprints and came within a labeled box originally (see below).

Q: When was this book published?

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series. This cover format was published in 1897.

All of the titles in this series are reprints. In 1897 the cover had a stereotypical design but the volumes were published in numerous different colors. Some are shown here.