Between 1889 and 1933 Henry Altemus and Henry Altemus Company published thousands and thousands of books. Most titles were published exclusively within one or more of the 205 Altemus’ series.They ranged in subject matter from reprints of previously done works (e.g. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books, Alice in Wonderland, Essays by Emerson) to religious books to children’s puzzle books, etc. These series’ books made up the vast majority of Altemus’ books. There were however a number of books published outside of a series. 150 titles are presently known to fit this description.
Many of these “non series” books were published in series formats in addition to non series formats. Some of the titles appeared in several different non series formats. For example, a non series book may have been printed with a different cover picture in consecutive years. Some non series books were published in ooze calf covers in addition to board covers within the same year.
The dates listed are the original non series Altemus copyrights. For some books this may be confusing. For example, Grimm’s Fairy Tales was originally published by Altemus in series form in 1896; later in non series form in 1918. The 1918 date is listed here in the non series section.
I have attempted to show these non series books here. I have not seen some of the non series books. Thus, some book covers are not pictured. Books which also appeared in a series (one or more) are listed with an asterisk.
My suspicion is that numerous non series books with unknown formats at this time will be discovered as the years go on. As I find them, they will be included here as well as in the update section.
Remember that if you are looking for your Altemus book in this list, it may not be here because it was published only in series form. Series books made up more than 95% of all Altemus books. Also appreciate that if your title is here but the book has a different cover than is shown here, that many of the non series books were also published in series formats which are shown elsewhere.
If your book is listed here and there is no picture or your cover is different, please let me know so that I can update this database.
