Q: I have a book which I didn’t find right off on your site. The book is: Names For Children by Scovil. Can you give me more information?

The date is 1897 and published by Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company which contradicts your site’s assertion that books with Henry Altemus Company are printed 1900 and beyond.

Worldcat has only one listing for the book and is published by Altemus and dated 1897.

This book is definitely old and amazingly it has the original dust jacket which is in very nice condition considering. Attached are three photos – the D.J. mimics the book front. The paper of the D.J. is grey-tan (inside flap is a more grey color).

Any more info would be much appreciated.

A: Thank you for your pictures. This book can be found here: http://henryaltemus.com/images/NS_101.htm

Your book was published after 1900 as the imprint is Henry Altemus Company. The copyright is 1897 but as you know the copyright is not necessarily the date of publication. Altemus published this book over a number of years in a couple of different editions.

Since Altemus incorporated in 1900 all books with this imprint were published in 1900 or later. There are a few exceptions in which books with the imprint of Henry Altemus were published after 1900.

The presence or absence in the Worldcat or NUC or elsewhere is irrelevant since countless books and their various editions are not listed. It is a good place to start to research books but far from the final word.