Q: Hi, I have a book that I would like some help with. It seems that you know the most on this subject, so I will send you some pictures. It’s “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” published in 1896 by Henry Altemus, Copyrighted in 1895. I can’t find a whole lot of information on it, but it has a handwritten ‘No. 71’ in the top right corner, so I think there’s at least 70 others running around somewhere, but I haven’t seen one yet. It was given to Dan B. Hoover by someone named Leila, Dec. 25th, 1896 according to what she wrote in it. Then ’Dan Hoover’ promptly stamped his name in the book.

A: Your book was published in 1896 as part of the Vademecum Series. During this year the covers were published in a number of different colors. See below for some examples.

The number 71 has no meaning to me. Probably just the book owner’s notation.
The book is a reprint and has little to no value (unfortunately).