Q: Hello, I would like some information about my copy of the book, Treasure Island by Robert L. Stevenson (picture below and attached). It was published by the Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, but no date is given. The cover is green cloth with elaborate embossed designs that may once have been gilded. The picture on the cover is faded, but may have been a pirate ship. The dedication is to S.L.O. and the book has 271 pages plus a list of other books available from the publisher. The size is 4 1/4″ x 6 1/4″. The spine is embossed with Treasure Island at the top and Altemus at the bottom. This book is similar to another copy of Treasure Island that I’ve seen which is from the Vademecum series, but the cover is different.

Any information you can give me about this book would be greatly appreciated.

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series. This series is a multivolume, multiauthored series of numerous reprints ranging from fiction to poetry.

It was published between 1909 and 1912. See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series180.htm.

It originally came in a red box. The box is pictured on the website.