Henry Altemus Company

Wee Books for Wee Folks Series

Ebay description:  1900s LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, FIRST PIRATED U.S. EDITION
FIRST ALTEMUS "WEE BOOK" PRINTING PRE-1910, VERY SCARCE

FIRST EDITION of the ALTEMUS Original "WEE BOOKS For WEE FOLKS" Title!!

This is indeed the ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION, undated but Published Ca. 1910 as the First American Pirated Edition that Attributed the Story to Helen Bannerman and used all of her Original Illustrations !!

Rare First Printing, with Plain endpapers (Later Printings had illustrated ennd papers).

It was this Edition that prompted Frederick A. Stokes --the Original American Publisher-- to place the phrase "Only Authorized American Edition" in their Third Edition in 1910 (Red Cloth with Full Front Paste-on)!

The Reality:  This book was published between 1918 and 1921. Thus, unless Stokes had a time machine, its 1910 edition had nothing to do with this book.
It was not until 1918 that Altemus changed the format of the Wee Folks Series such that the books had the applique (paste-on) covers. Between 1918-1921 the end papers were blank and the lettering on the front cover was yellow.

Valenciennes Series

Ebay description:  1896, FANCHON, 1st Edition, Illustrated

Sand, George, FANCHON, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1896. 1st Edition

The Reality:  This book is an 1896 Valenciennes Series book. The first American edition of Fanchon by George Sand was published in 1863 by Follett, Foster and Co. Sand died in 1876 so it is somewhat unlikely this first edition was published 20 years later.

Petit Trianon Series

Ebay description:  1892 - VIC - Autobiography of a Fox Terrier - Marsh
Henry Altemus Company

The Reality:  This is a 1903-1904 published book which is part of the Petit Trianon Series. The fact that it was published by Henry Altemus Company should instantly inform the seller that it was published in 1900 or later. (http://henryaltemus.com/identify.htm). The 1892 Vic published by Altemus was not part of any series. It is here pictured on the right.

Young People's Library

Ebay description:  ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES 1898 ALTEMUS Young People’ Lib.

Special Attributes:
1st Edition

Printing Year: 1898

I think this is the first edition (and possibly only edition) of Altemus Young People’s Library Edition of Andersen’s Fairy Tales, 1898, by Henry Altemus Company (Philadelphia). There is no information on reprinting. The illustrations are fantastic! (See pictures with this listing for a few of them.) .... This copy does not have a dustjacket and I’m not sure that it ever did. Hard covers are soiled and rubbed with a small chunk missing out of the top of the spine and along one edge.

The Reality:  This is a later reprint of this book by Altemus. It is part of the Young People's Library -Format 3. The jacket is shown here. Prior to the printing of this copy (In 1902 or later), The format 1 book as well as the two format 2 books were published. In addition this is a later version of the format 3 book. The earlier format 3 book is shown here. (It is identical to the later format 2 book). See below. For more details about the first two formats of the Young People's Library see the section in the Series listings here on the website.

Vademecum Series

Ebay description:  ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE MULOCK 1898 1ST ED G NR

The Reality:  The first American edition was published in the 1870s by Harpers. This is a Vademecum Series book published in 1899.

Devotional Series

Ebay description:  Ploughman's Talk C.H. Spurgeon CHRISTIAN GILDED BOOK

Book: John Ploughman's Talk
Author: C.H. Spurgeon
Edition: First?
Publication Year: 1890s?
Publisher: Henry Altemus Company
Condition: Good

This is a book of sermons and fables by famed preacher C.H. Spurgeon. This is one of the books from about the middle of his writings. There is no date on the book, but it was probably published as a first edition in the 1890's at the latest.

The Reality:  This book is part of the Devotional Series (Series #75) and was published between 1905-1908. The first edition was published in 1869 and reprinted numerous times before the 20th century publication by Altemus. Another example of shoddy research.

Beauxarts Series

Ebay description:  Antique 1865 Book: THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR, Delux Print
By MARCUS AURELIUS ANIONINUS. Highly Collectable
Antique book 1865

THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR
By Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Translated by George Long
Publised by Henry Altemus Philadelphia
Year:
No publication date found on the book. But we did many researches about this book:

1.This book’s Publisher HENRY ALTEMUS PHILADELPHIA changed the name to HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY since 1900.
2. We asked the expert, this book was print in between 1842 -1880

3. This book was a gift, there is the name written on the first page, and a “65”. So we strongly believe this book was published before 1865

The Reality:  This is an 1897 book which was published as part of the Beauxarts Series. Hard to know what expert and what "researches" they asked and did but clearly neither was very accurate. Altemus published no reading books before 1890.

How the presence of the number 65 written on the first page means it was published earlier than 1865 is a total mystery. It could just as easily signified the likely value of the book- about $6.50. This seller listed this book at an opening bid of $25. Good luck!

Grace Harlowe Overland Riders

Ebay description:  2 BOOKS- 1921 GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS SERIES
1ST EDITIONS WITH ORIGINAL DUST JACKETS- ALTEMUS

This is a super lot of 2 books written by Grace Harlowe and published in 1921 by Henry Altemus company and copyright 1921 by Howard Altemus. They are titled "Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders In the Great North Woods and On The Great American Desert".

The Reality:  These books are not first editions but rather second format books. They were published in or later than 1924. This is based on the format date (see bibliography) as well as the back ads which show books published in 1924. Below are pictured the first format jackets. See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series14.htm

Altemus Library

Ebay description:  The Man Without a Country Edward Everett Hale 1st ed.

Published by the Henry Altemus Company in Philadelphia, PA in 1908. First edition of the famous novella by the grand-nephew of the famous Revolutionary spy Nathan Hale. The story was originally published anonymously in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1863, to foster patriotism in the North during the Civil War. This classic tale has been made into a movie four times, including the well known 1937 version and a made-for-tv version in 1973.

The Reality:  This series (books #1-5) was first published beginning in 1913. This title was #8out of 8 in the series and was published in 1914. The first edition of The Man Without a Country was published by Ticknor and Fields in 1865.

Vademecum Series

Ebay description:  BEAUTIFUL CLASSIC NOVEL *TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS

Title: - Tom Brown's School Days (Illustrated)
Written By: - Thomas Hughes
Illustrated: - Hand-drawn Illustrations
Publisher: Henry Altemus Company - Philadelphia (There is no date printed in the book but research has led me to believe it circa's around 1895.)
Size: It is 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches tall.
Edition: - 1st Edition

The Reality:  This is a 1904 book and again the fact that the publisher was Henry Altemus Company indicates a 1900 or later date. The seller's research obviously has been somewhat incomplete. More egregious however is the first edition claim. This book which was the first of the two Tom Brown books by Hughes- Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby published in 1857 by Ticknor and Fields. Between then and the turn of the century there were more than 50 different publishing houses that reprinted this book. These editions are well described in my Bibliography of 19th Century Children's Series Books 2003.