A wonderful 2 page pamphlet advertising the 10 books of the Children of the Bible Series has been discovered within a Series #137 book (One Syllable Series). This advertisement, as shown below, lists the titles and includes some pictures that are found in several of the books. It is unclear as to the exact date of this piece. The half vellum books were published for a number of years beginning in 1905. The catalogue lists 25 cents as the book price until the teens although the books themselves list 25 cents as well as 50 cents during this era.

I would guess 1905-1912 date.

Advertisements like this probably exist for most Altemus series of the early 1900s and teens. They are exceedingly scarce.

Q: Hello,
I went through your website, but I wasn’t able to tell what year my book might be from. Kept for the Master’s Use. It’s not terribly important, but I would like to know if you are able and have the time.

Here are pictures. There is no other publisher information anywhere in it.

A: This book is part of the Classics Series.

The books in this series were published in five different formats. This is the earliest format.

These covers were published in the 1907-1913 era.

This format was published with a dust jacket. Shown below.

Q: I have in my possession a copy of Character, wondering what to do with it? Not sure how to grade condition, either. Any advice?

A: Your book was published in 1896 and is part of the Belles-Lettres Series.

The titles in this series of leatherette books are not very collectible and have little value.

A new advertising flyer has been discovered for series #56. It was found in a Young People’s Library-Format 3 book which was published in 1905.
This two page pamphlet notes that books #17-21 were in preparation meaning that the earlier numbered books were published in a separate print run- probably early 1905- whereas the last few books were probably published together in late 1905.

This accordion advertising flyer has eight panels per side making it the largest of its type that I have seen. It is from 1912. It noted a number of 1912 books but no 1913 publications.

The first two titles in the Range and Grange as well as the Boys of Steel series are listed. They are all 1912 volumes. The third and fourth books in these series are not mentioned. The first two books in the Young Engineers Series are advertised but the 1913 third title in the series is not.

Side 1

Verso

Q: Please any info would be great. I got book (Lucile) from my grandmother and i know nothing about it but your site was helpful thank you. i know you prolly don’t appraise books but if you could just please give me a ball park idea i would hate to give something away for nothing. Thank you for your time.

A: Hello,
Your book was published in 1901-1902 and is part of the Petit Trianon Series. It is a reprint.

In this format the left half of the book front cover has a stereotyped pattern whereas the right half either has one of sixteen flower patterns or one of two illustrations done by Alphonse Mucha. Your book has a Mucha illustration.

You can read a bit about this variant here: http://www.henryaltemus.com/about/updates112605.htm from a November 26, 2005 post.

Although your book is in nice shape, it has minimal value. Certainly less than $20.

The other Mucha cover is shown below.

Q: I found this book and was hoping you could give me some information about it. It has no publication date. Milton’s Poems. Thank you.

A: Your book is from the Classics Series.

It was published in the 1907-1909 era.

It originally came with a dust jacket. See below.

It is a reprint and only has nominal value.

This ad includes: Series 93- Gertrude Smith’s Bible Stories, Series 124- Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series, Series 128- Magic Drawing Book Series, Series 138- Painting Book Series, Series 144- Piffle Dot Drawing Books-First Series, Series 145- Piffle’s Dot Drawing Books-Second Series, Series 186- Wee Books for Wee Folks (third format), Series 187- Wee Folks Bible Stories Series, Series 189- Wee Folks Peter Rabbit Series, Series 190- Wish Fairy Series, Series 199- Young Folks Puzzle Picture Series.

This accordion style advertising pamphlet has 8 sides (4 pages). The individual sheets are 5 x 3.5 with the total length being 14 inches. There are 11 series advertised within the flyer. Based on the books listed it appears that this is a 1922 piece. Jack the Giant Killer in the Wee Folks Cinderella Series was published in 1922. The next book in that series Jack and the Beanstalk was also published in 1922 but is not listed.

This pamphlet was apparently given to local book dealers who could imprint their name on it. See the ad.

This flyer is exceptionally rare as compared to the juvenile series book flyers seen in this section.

Most of the 7 books which comprise the Dore Masterpieces Series have been found with advertising flyers within them. This was not uncommon for Altemus books in this era. I have seen Dore flyers in several different styles.

1. Single page one sided flyers. There exist single advertising sheets for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Idylls of the King. These are 10.5 x 6.

2. Single sheet – two sided ads. This ad includes the 6 Dore Masterpieces and has Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress. This ad does not list the presentation editions and thus was from 1892 or later. They are 6.25 x 5.

3. Two 4 sided pamphlets have been seen. They list the same books-The Dore Bible Gallery, Paradise Lost, Dante’s Inferno and Dante’s Purgatory and Paradise. They both note the presentation editions. There are two differences: at the top of each page one says- NEW EDITION whereas the other states- ALTEMUS’ EDITION. The other difference is that the extra fine English Cloth books are priced at $4.00 in the former ads and $6.00 in the latter ads. Although one would assume that the higher price would signify a later date, there are no advertisements that ever showed the English Cloth book listed at $6.00. Thus, the ads can be assumed to be early in the publication history of these books but they cannot be dated precisely. Examples of pages are shown below.
        

4. One advertising flyer has been seen that has 8 panels. It includes all 7 of the Dore Masterpiece Books as well as Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Interestingly, the heading at the top of each page says either “new edition” or “Altemus edition”. Books #1-4 are listed as Altemus Editions and they have the $6.00 price. Thus this flyer is of the same vintage as the ad #3 above that said Altemus Edition. The ads for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Idylls of the King are identical to the single sheet ads.

Q: I have a copy of Outre Mer that has no copyright date, I would very much like to know it’s publication date. I thought perhaps that it was part of the L’Art Nouveau series. In the first few pages there is a picture of a man on a horse in battle if that is of any help. Thank you.

A: Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1908-1909.

It is a reprint.

Originally it was sold within a labeled box. See below.