Here is an extremely rare item from the Henry Altemus Company. Whether this was a salesman sample of covers or some sort of marketing aid is unknown. My guess is that this piece was used to show store owners the variety of covers that Altemus books could be found with and how this variety could help sales.

Between 1901 and 1907 some of the Altemus’ Vademecum Series’ books had appliqué covers with European paintings. More than 40 different ones have been seen. In most instance several different cover pictures could be put together to form a larger illustration. See: http://www.henryaltemus.com/vademecum.htm

The cover templates below were from books published in 1903. Very interesting is that the title: “Allegories of the Heart” which is on the fourth cover from the left was never published by Altemus.

I have seen one similar item over the years. That item has three of the six 1904 Wee Books for Wee Folk’s Series’ covers. See below.

Q: Would you be able to give me an approximate value of this book? Morning Thoughts. I am confused since the title page only has Henry Altemus but the back includes company. Thank you for any help.

A: Your book is part of the Devotional Series. This 75 title series was published in nine different formats between 1895 and 1933.

Most likely an old title page was used for this volume.

None of the titles in this series are especially collectible/valuable.

Q: Is this book worth anything? It’s a little less than six inches high and does have a few missing pages. Letters, Sentences and Maxims by Lord Chesterfield

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series. It is a reprint (as are all the titles in this series) and was published in 1895.

See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series179.htm for more info.

It only has nominal value.

These books were published between 1902 and 1923. This format has a characteristic flower pattern on the spine. The books can be dated easily by using the flow chart on the website.

http://www.henryaltemus.com/series/series202F3.htm

This book was published between 1914-1919: Ads in the back list to Automobile Girls #6.

Q: Hello,

Attached are a couple of pictures. I am having issues dating this book (Undine). When I searched for the title nothing came up and this title did not come up under the author’s name either. on your site. Any information would be great!

Thank you.

A: Your book is part of the Valenciennes Series and was published in 1897.
It is a reprint as are all the titles in this series.
See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series181.htm

These books originally came within a labeled box.

The books of this 16 title series were published between 1915 and 1922 and originally came in dust jackets. The volumes are almost identical to the Young People’s Library, Format 3 which were published at the same time. The differences are that these books are larger in size (note the design on the bottom of the cover) and they have four glossy pages of multicolored illustrations (colored plates). The text is the same.

The volumes in this series are also much scarcer than the Young People’s Library (Series #202) titles.

Ever New Series

Q: I am searching for a bit more information on books that were my Mother’s when she was a child.
I tried searching on Ebay and Biblio, but could only find a few books from varying series.

What I have:
All four Wee Books from Set No. 1. (Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit Went To Sea, Peter Rabbit at the Farm, Peter Rabbit’s Christmas)
Two books from Set No. 7.
Two books from Set No. 8.
Four books from Set No. or Series No. 126.
And, one book entitled, ‘Peter Rabbit and the Little Girl’.

Each book is in excellent condition. In fact, I’m not sure they’ve ever been read or looked through.

A: These books are reprints of the original Altemus Wee Books for Wee Folks volumes. Altemus published these little books in several series between 1904 and 1933. Platt and Munk reprinted a number of titles in beginning in 1935. The reprints and the Altemus originals came with dust jackets. The reprints also came in labeled boxes. A Platt and Munk box is shown below.

For more information see: http://henryaltemus.com/reprints/platt.html

Q: I was wondering if you could tell me the age of my little copy of The King of the Golden River. It is a very plain cover, which looks like none of the others on your site save A Shropshire Lad.

Thank you for any information you can give me.

A: Your book is part of the seven volume Trevose Series. These reprints were published between 1915 and 1933 and originally came boxed.

A representative series picture is shown here: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series176.htm

There is no point that distinguishes an early printing from a later printing.

Q: I was wondering if you would know how much these books were worth (general ball park). The Swiss family Robinson was copyright in 1900 by Henry Altemus.
The Gulliver’s Travels copyright in 1899 by Henry Altemus.
If you could help I would appreciate it. Thank you.

A: Both of these books are part of the One Syllable Series. This 12 book series had four formats and this is format #2. The format 3 books were published between 1900 and 1908. They originally came with a dust jacket. (See Below) In mediocre condition without a dust jacket they only have nominal value.

Below are the pictures of the four formats for Gulliver Travels.

Format 1	Format 2		Format 3	Format 4

Q: Greetings,
I came across your website in a search for info about a book that has been passed down through my husband’s family. It is an edition of Drummond’s Addresses, with 8 stories. Approximate measurement is 4-1/2 x 6 inches. A handwritten inscription reads “To Lizzie from Alice. Christmas 1893.”

I’ve attached photos. Can you tell me anything about this book? I didn’t see this particular cover on your website.

Is there any resale value?

A: This book belongs to the seven title Series #150 Popular Series of Famous Authors. This titles previously had been published as a non series book. This is the only Altemus series that uses this particular left sided cover decoration. These books originally had dust jackets.

For more information see: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series150.htm.