Q: I had a question about this book that I purchased, A Child’s Garden of Verses. Your site says that it was published in 1908, but my book has a dedication dating 1907. I did see that this was the cover you titled 7a, an early rendition. I suppose I mostly want to get it appraised, but I have seen that these books are not going for much.

A: This book is part of the Boys and Girls Classics’ Series. The books of this series had pictorial linen cloth swatches as book covers.
These volumes originally came with a labeled floral box. An example is shown here. All of these titles were reprinted from the earlier Young People’s Library series books.

The 1908 books were released generally at Xmas time in 1907. This was done every year to capitalize on the holiday sales. This book only has nominal value.

Q: Hello, can someone give us information on this nice little book.
Title – The Song of Hiawatha
Author – Longfellow
Publisher – Henry Altemus Co., Philadelphia

We were curious as to the copyright date, and basic value.
Attached is a photo for your review.

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

It is a reprint published by Altemus in 1908-1909.
Originally it was sold within a labeled box. A representative box picture is shown here.

It only has nominal value.

Q: I found this old book while helping my Mother (84-years old) clean out her house. She say’s it belonged to her Mother. She is not sure where her Mother got it.

The book is not in good condition. It was wrapped in old tissue paper when I found it. The cover is a reddish-brown suede with gold foil stamp lettering, “BARRACK ROOM BALLADS AND DITTIES,” and a “harp-style” musical instrument logo in the bottom right corner.

The title page has the same title name plus author, Rudyard Kipling. Below the author name is the publisher, “Philadelphia, Henry Altemus Company.” The page before the title page has a photo of the author, author name, and in small italics, “Frontispiece.”

Based on the information from your website, this publisher did not publish suede covers earlier than 1902. I’m not sure if this book has value or, better yet, what to do with it.

A: Your book was published between 1912-1915 as part of the Poems We Love Series. The limp velvet calf covers came in either brown or green. Each of the ten books in this series originally was published with a labeled box. An example is shown.

It is a reprint with no significant value.

Q: HI, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the attached book?
Two Years Before the Mast
Thank you so much!!

A: Your book is part of the Vademecum Series and was published in 1895.

This particular 1895 cover has been seen in several different covers. See below.

It is a reprint (as are all of the titles in this series) and has nominal value.

Henry Altemus Company published three non-series formats of this title. It was published in series form in numerous series.

For the series versions look here: http://www.henryaltemus.com/search/titlesearch.php?q=black+Beauty&Submit=Go.

Format 1 – 1915 Octavo Version
This 8.5″ x 6″ book has been seen in two colors. The cover has a 4.5 x 3.5 appliqué picture of Black Beauty which is identical to the frontispiece. There are 16 unattributed illustrations on glossy paper. The book has 250 pages of text. The endpapers have book appropriate line drawn illustrations. This book came with a dust jacket but it has not been seen as of yet. This volume cost $2.00.

Format 2 1922
This 250 page 7.5″ x 5.25″ book has a dust jacket which has the same picture as the front cloth cover. The frontispiece illustration is on glossy paper but all of the unattributed internal line drawn black and white illustrations are on plain paper. This book cost $1.00.

Format 3 1930
This 7.5″ x 5″ 250 page book has blue cloth with a full page appliqué on the front cover. The frontispiece illustration is on glossy paper but all of the unattributed internal illustrations are line drawn black and white on plain paper. The internal illustrations are the same as are found in the Format 2 book. A dust jacket for this book exists but has not been seen. The endpapers are on brown paper.

In 1930 Altemus published a number of titles with reinforced library buckram bindings. These books all had the brown endpapers. This book is one of them. It cost $1.25.

See also Non Series #23

Q: Hi. I was wondering if you could give me some idea of about when this edition was published? Any other information you could give based on the picture would be appreciated as well. Twice Told Tales

A: Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series. It was published in 1895-1896. It originally was sold within a labeled box.

The cover of this format was published with a stereotypical acorn pattern on the left half of the cover and a decorative pattern on the right half. Presently I have seen twelve different decorative patterns (including this one). See below.

This book is a reprint (as are all of the titles in this series) and has only nominal value.

Three formats of this title were published. All are 6″ x 4.5″. They are textually identical and unpaginated with four glossy illustrations.

The first format was published in 1908. This $1.25 book had a full Persian levant cover. It has not been seen.

A second format is full leather and boxed. It was published between 1909 and 1927. This book initially cost $1.25. In 1925 the price was $1.50.

A third format in green cloth is shown below. The date of publication and price are unknown.

See also Non Series #74

This little 6″ x 4.5″ book was published with five different editions. I am adding another third edition book cover picture to the website.

See also Non Series #45

Q: I am trying to figure out the date this book by Robert Louis Stevenson was published. The title is “Treasure Island” and the authors name is spelled Stephenson instead of Stevenson. It is small, about 6 1/4″ tall. The cover is green predominately with gilt on the flowery designs. I think it may be about 1886, but am not sure.

A: This book is part of the Beauxarts Series and was published in 1898.

It is a reprint as are all of the titles in this series. During this year this cover was published in several different colors. Some examples are shown below.

Q: Trying to find out the value of the 1915 non series Octavo Edition of Black Beauty. I have attached 2 pictures for you to see its condition.
Also, I am curious to know how many of these books were printed and/or sold.

A: This Black Beauty reprint was published by Altemus in 1915. As opposed to most of the Altemus Black Beauty books, this one is not part of a series.

I have seen this format in this dark blue color as well as an orange cover color. See below:

It originally was published with a dust jacket which I have not seen as of yet. I would estimate this book’s value to be between $15-40 depending on condition. A jacketed book would be worth more.