Q: Hi there,
Would you be able to identify this book, please? I couldn’t find it in any edition on your web site. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Kind regards
A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series and was published in 1908.
It is a reprint as are all of the titles in this long running publisher’s series.
It originally came within a labeled box. See below.
Today I am adding a picture to the Jester Life Series (brown cover). This title (At the Sign of the Golden Calf) has been seen with two different color covers as of this time. The red cover is probably the earlier of the two. The spider web end papers are on later books whereas the orange flower is on the earlier endpapers.
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Q: Hello,
A while back I purchased about a dozen of these small books, all of them the works of Shakespeare. This is one of them. Will you be able to tell me how much they are worth approximately or at least a range depending on the quality of each book? They are all in pretty good shape, but not mint. I do not know what year they were published. A woman wrote her name in them with the year 1906 written next to her name. Please find attached four photos of the book.
A: This book belongs to Series 164 Shakespeare’s Plays. These ubiquitous little books must have been some of Altemus’ best sellers as I am frequently asked about them. There are 39 different titles in the group and some were sold within large boxed sets.
These books were sold between 1899 and 1933 in as many as eight different formats. Your book appears to be from Format 5 or 7. You can figure this out by looking at the website and noting the subtle differences. (end papers, glossy title page, etc.)
Your book originally had a dust jacket.
These books have little value and most often sell for a dollar or two apiece or go unsold altogether.
Q: I have been stumped by a Henry Altemus book for several months now. I hate to admit defeat but I am now doing just that.
The Dimensions are 4 1 inches by 6 1/4 inches. No dust jacket or box. The cover is a dark blue material which is ribbed. Almost feels like a thin vinyl. In the center of the front cover is an oval shape where the ribbing is present. In the center of the oval shape it reads: The Sketch Book. Stemmed flowers (maybe pansies) fill in the rest of the cover. The stems near the bottom of the cover have leaves and three of the flowers extend into the bottom of the oval shape. The spine has the same pattern of flowers and in the center of the spine it reads “Irving”. Near the top of the spine it reads “The Sketch Book”. If there was a title page it is gone. The first page with any printing has a type of crest and in the center in red letters it reads “Idylls of the King. Alfred Lord Tennyson”. At the bottom of the crest, set at an angle on each side it reads “Henry Altemus” on the left banner and “Philadelphia” on the right.
Two blank pages then the next page with printing contains a green scrolling around the sides of the page. In the center it reads “The Vicar of Wakefield Oliver Goldsmith” in red letters. At the bottom of the page it reads “Philadelphia” then below that Henry Altemus contained within a banner. The next pages contain an introduction with the date October 1877 and only the initials A.A. Then comes a table of contents listing 20 of Shakespears Plays which follow after a preface.
All lettering and design on the spine and cover was done in gold gilt.
The book ends with Othello and there are not any more pages following.
I would appreciate any information.
A: Hello,
Your book is from the Vademecum Series and was published in 1896. It originally came within a labeled box.
This is one of the more uncommon formats in this series. I have included in this entry a better picture of another title from this series.
It is a reprint as are all of the titles in this series.
Beginning in 1935 Platt and Munk reprinted a number of Altemus’ Wee Books for Wee Folks. Fourteen of the twenty original Peter Rabbit’s were published. Today I am adding two dust jacket pictures to the database.
The front cover of the jackets is the same as the earlier Altemus editions except for the Platt and Munk serial numbers on the bottom left and the “Bound in….” statement on the bottom right. These were being printed at least into the mid 1940’s.
| 600-8 | 600-10 |
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Today I am adding a couple of pictures of early Format 3 Wee Books for Wee Folks.
The Format 3 books in this series have the familiar book appropriate appliqué on the front cover. Although the general format was unchanged between 1917 and 1933, there are differences which make it easy to date these books.
An example is shown here. Books printed between 1917 and 1920 have yellow or red lettering on the cover, rather than more commonly found black lettering. Note this book has the yellow letters and plain endpapers. The endpapers were plain until 1921.
Also note the dust jacket here only lists books up to The Night Before Christmas which was published in 1918.
Look at the other book shown here. It also has plain endpapers. The jacket lists books published in 1920. Since the lettering is black but the endpapers are still plain. This book was published in 1921.
| 1918-1919 book | |
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| 1921 Book | |
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Q: The Revereries of a Bachelor, not first edition but in excellent shape and signed by author Donald G. Mitchell. It’s published by Altemus out of Philadelphia. What can you tell me?
A: This question is a recurring one. Here is my answer from several years ago:
Reveries of a Bachelor-Author inscription
The Reveries of a Bachelor written by Donald Mitchell (pseudonym is IK Marvel) was reprinted by Altemus in numerous series and in hundreds of formats. This book is very common and can be found for sale frequently on the book search services and Ebay. From time to time an optimistic seller notes that the book is inscribed by the author.
Today on ABE there are 45 copies of this title published by Altemus. They range in price from $4.22 to $125. Of these, two of the more expensive books ($80 and $125 ) say signed and inscribed by the author. There are seven “Reveries” on sale on Ebay today
Well bad news for all those hopeful sellers. The author’s inscription is a facsimile. Every Altemus “Reveries” that I have seen has the same exact inscription. It is shown above. The rarer book would be the one without the facsimile inscription.
For information on Donald Mitchell – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Grant_Mitchell
As has been recently noted, Platt and Munk reprinted a number of the very popular Altemus’ Wee Books for Wee Folks titles. http://henryaltemus.com/reprints/platt.html
By 1938 some of these titles were sold in four book boxed sets. Starting in 1942 the boxed sets contained 3 books.
Here is an example of a three book boxed set. It cost $1.05.
It is #650g and contains:
The Story of Chicken Little
Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens
The Old Time Story of the Three Bears
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Platt and Munk reprinted a number of titles that were originally published by the Henry Altemus Company.
See: http://henryaltemus.com/reprints/platt.html
This includes four of the six books from the Wee Folks Bible Stories Series.
The Platt and Munk volumes were published in two formats. One was similar to the Altemus publications. The later Platt and Munk books changed the front cover format. The earlier cover has an applique with a book appropriate picture.
The later book has a line drawn picture on the front cover. All four of the Platt and Munk later covers are different. The dust jacket front cover never changed between formats.
Today I am adding the later cover picture of the Platt and Munk Wee Folks Stories of the Old Testament.
Note that all of these formats are the same size.
| Henry Altemus formats | |
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| Platt and Munk early and later formats | ||
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This title has been seen in two different Altemus formats. The earlier book has the deep orange coloring on the cover and the earlier title page.
The later book is lavender and was published in 1902 with the later Altemus title page.
Both books are 8.25″ x 5.5″ and have no illustrations.
These volumes each have 356 pages. The earlier edition (and probably first) edition has a dust jacket pictured. I believe it is original but am not certain.
| The earlier and probable first edition | ||
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| Later 1902 edition | |
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For more information, see Non Series #96a Montanye by W. O. Stoddard.