Henry Altemus Company

1899-1902 Boxed Set

An early previously unknown boxed set for this series is shown here. This 39 volume boxed set contains the paste-grain roan editions of these books. The box is 6" x 4.5" x 22". This set is not noted in any Altemus catalogues or advertisements.

The book formats (2 and 4) were published between 1899 and 1902. I suspect just as with the later boxed set, there were no dust jackets on any of the boxed set books.

Note the label on the box indicates the publisher is Henry Altemus not Henry Altemus Company. The books are a mix between those with Henry Altemus on the title page and Henry Altemus Company on the title page.

Thus it appears that this set was published between 1899 and 1902.

1909 Boxed Set

In 1909 the complete 39 title set was sold in one of two sets. Leather bound or cloth bound books. These boxed sets are incredibly difficult to find because of their size and weight. The box shown here is 6 x 4.5 x 22. It was originally purchased on 12/23/1909. The volumes within it are Format 7 books (see above) with blank endpapers.

None of the books have dust jackets and my suspicion is that the books within the boxed set never had them. Many of the volumes in my set were pristine and it appeared that they had never been opened.

Interestingly even in 1909 there were bargains. The original buyer left a note on the box that stated that the set was purchased for $3.00 (not the list price of $13.50).

Advertising Flyer

In the early 1900’s department stores were a popular place to buy books. Most large stores had impressive book departments. I remember even as late as the 1950’s in my hometown of Milwaukee Gimbels, The Boston Store and Schusters had these departments.

Here is a fascinating ephemera piece.

The Shakespeare Series (#164) was a 39 volume set published from 1899 until Altemus went out of business in 1933. The books were sold separately as well as by the set. Boxed sets were sold beginning in 1909. As of the date of this flyer in 1907 the hard cover books sold for 35 cents while the soft leather ones sold for 50 cents.

One of the things that I have noticed over the years is how common these books are. I am asked questions about this series almost as often as I am about any Altemus books. The only reasonable explanation is that they were a giant selling success for Altemus. Perhaps this flyer helps us understand a bit.

Here is a department store from Rochester (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibley's) that is offering quite a deal. Sibley’s offers 27 volumes of this series at 15 cents each i.e. 56% off the retail price. This is on some payment plan that is not elucidated by the flyer but when the payments are done, the remaining 12 books are given to the buyer for no additional cost. This is a great deal. Effectively that is selling the whole set for $4.05 -a bit more than a dime per book.

The reverse side of the flyer allows the purchaser to select which 27 titles he wants.

This flyer which is 7.75 x 3.75 was found in a copy of one of the Shakespeare’s books. This is the only flyer I have seen that mentions Altemus books which was not an Altemus publication.