Q: I have been stumped by a Henry Altemus book for several months now. I hate to admit defeat but I am now doing just that.

The Dimensions are 4 1 inches by 6 1/4 inches. No dust jacket or box. The cover is a dark blue material which is ribbed. Almost feels like a thin vinyl. In the center of the front cover is an oval shape where the ribbing is present. In the center of the oval shape it reads: The Sketch Book. Stemmed flowers (maybe pansies) fill in the rest of the cover. The stems near the bottom of the cover have leaves and three of the flowers extend into the bottom of the oval shape. The spine has the same pattern of flowers and in the center of the spine it reads “Irving”. Near the top of the spine it reads “The Sketch Book”. If there was a title page it is gone. The first page with any printing has a type of crest and in the center in red letters it reads “Idylls of the King. Alfred Lord Tennyson”. At the bottom of the crest, set at an angle on each side it reads “Henry Altemus” on the left banner and “Philadelphia” on the right.

Two blank pages then the next page with printing contains a green scrolling around the sides of the page. In the center it reads “The Vicar of Wakefield Oliver Goldsmith” in red letters. At the bottom of the page it reads “Philadelphia” then below that Henry Altemus contained within a banner. The next pages contain an introduction with the date October 1877 and only the initials A.A. Then comes a table of contents listing 20 of Shakespears Plays which follow after a preface.
All lettering and design on the spine and cover was done in gold gilt.
The book ends with Othello and there are not any more pages following.
I would appreciate any information.

A: Hello,
Your book is from the Vademecum Series and was published in 1896. It originally came within a labeled box.

This is one of the more uncommon formats in this series. I have included in this entry a better picture of another title from this series.

It is a reprint as are all of the titles in this series.