Henry Altemus Company

The following are questions submitted via email by our visitors.

If you have a question about Altemus books that you'd like answered please click on the Questions link at the bottom left of this page.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I have a hard cover copy of The Song of Hiawatha with a different cover than any you show here. It is beautiful and in excellent condition with gold details and red carnations on the cover. Does that mean it was published later that 1898? The gift message inside is dated 1907. Thank you for your time!

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1907. The acorn pattern surrounded one of four different flowers. All of the titles in this series are reprints.

It was originally published within a labeled box. A picture of the box is shown here.

It only has nominal value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  Hello!
Re: Uncle Tom's Cabin - Henry Altemus Company
We are trying to find out information about a book. We have attached pictures of the book. We would like to know the year the book was printed and the current value.
Please let us know if you need further information.
Thank you!

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series.

It was published in 1901-1902. During this year, the left half of the front cover had the stereotyped decorative pattern in either blue, pink or beige. The right half of the cover pictured one of sixteen different flowers.

It is one of a myriad of reprints of this title. Unless someone loves the cover, it has only nominal value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  When was this book published (Little Lame Prince)?

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1907.

These books originally came within a labeled box. All of the titles in this series are reprints.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I'm wondering if you can tell me anything about this book (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) the picture is of the cover and the publisher page thank you.

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1907. It originally came within a labeled box. All of the 117 titles in this series are reprints. During this year the acorn picture cover had four different flower appliqués. The other flowers in addition to a representative box are shown on the series page.

It is a reprint and only has nominal value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  Can you tell me the history of this book? Thanks

A:  Your book is a part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1899. During this series publication history, every year there was a new cover. This one is the 1899 format.

In 1899 the left half of the cover remained constant while the right side had numerous different decorative patterns. I have seen 27 up to this point.

These books originally came in a labeled box. (An example is shown here.)

All of the books in this series are reprints. Thus, only special collectible titles have more than nominal value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  Hi – I found this old book of my Grandmothers, and I was wondering if it’s worth hanging on to. It’s Paradise Lost Vol 1 with a copyright of 1899. It’s not in great shape. See attached picture. Thanks for your time!

A:  This book was published in 1899-1900. As with most of the Petit Trianon books, the left side of the cover has a stereotyped pattern and the right half of the front cover has various different patterns. In some years it is floral and in other years more decorative. So far 27 different patterns have been seen with this format. See ../series/series143.htm for pictures. This years' titles also came in a labeled box.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I have a question about this book that I found in my mother’s collection: it’s an “Illustrated Vademecum Series” reprint of Tennyson’s In Memoriam. I read from other pages on your site that in this series, books were published essentially every year, and that the covers varied yearly. Upon examining your tables, the closest I could come to an accurate date for my book was the 1899-1926 range. I saw another user’s book, however, that was not “In Memoriam,” but that had a very similar cover design to mine; his was from 1901-2. So my question is this: is my book, too, from this same year? If not, when is it from? From your information about how the publisher was cited, my book’s “Henry Altemus Company” tells me that it is from after 1900, I believe.

A:  Actually your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1903-1904. It is a reprint and originally came with a labeled box.

The 1903 books had a stereotyped pedestal picture on the left side of the cover. This left cover design has been seen in blue, pink and beige. Some 1903 books were published with the same pedestal on the left but they were in ooze calf.

The cloth books have one of sixteen different flowers on the right of the cover.

A lot of Altemus books which are not Vademecum books have the Vademecum Series listed in the ads in the back of the book.

This particular book in this format is not that common but scarcity and value do not necessarily go hand in hand. Because it is not a very collectible book, it has very limited value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  What can you tell me about this book please (Black Beauty)? The spine shows it was published by Altemus but I can find no publishing date, etc in it. Thank you in advance.

A:  Many of Altemus' publisher's series had various types and styles of artwork on the front covers. (See section on Publisher's Series). In 1903-1904 one of the formats of the Petit Trianon Series was half vellum on the left. The right half either had floral pictures or there was an art nouveau illustration of a young lady in various poses. At this time two different illustrations have been seen that were initially posters done by Alphonse Mucha.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a well known Czech artist who excelled in the art nouveau arena with works designed for magazine covers, books, posters etc. It is most likely that Altemus appropriated these works for some of their covers without paying royalties. Mucha was not given credit within the books where his work appeared on the covers.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  Hi there, I have acquired a book (Kidnapped) and am unable to find out about it. Please if you would be so kind as to tell me what you know of this book date and such. It has no publishing date in it. Thank You so very much for your time.

A:  Your book was published in 1907 as part of the Petit Trianon Series. It originally was sold within a labeled box.

This title is a reprint and only has nominal value.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I picked this up today and hoped to find out more about it. I have to tell you how much I enjoyed all of the hard work you've put into this site! I love books and I look forward to reading this one.

It is Idylls of the King by Tennyson. I paid $1 for it! It may be worth twice that! Thank you for your information. I've bookmarked your site.

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1905-1906. It originally was sold within a labeled box.

The paste on (appliqué) on the front cover had the picture of one of four flowers. (yellow-daffodil, red-carnation, pink-rose, purple-iris)

All of the books in this series are reprints and have limited value.