This little limply bound leatherette book has 55 pages. It is 6.25″ x 4.5″ and cost 25 cents.

In 1888 Scovil wrote several articles entitled “Baby’s Requirements” in Good Housekeeping. This Springfield, Massachusetts magazine was published by Clark W. Bryan. These articles were the foundation for this later work. In 1892 the Curtis Publishng Company printed the first edition of this book. Curtis was the publisher of the Ladies’ Home Journal and one of its editors was Scovil.

By the time Altemus published this title, it was in the eleventh thousand printing.

Product advertisements in Altemus books are basically unheard of. Leinbach & Bro advertised its clothing store but that was in books that Leinbach gave away.

See: http://henryaltemus.com/ephemera/leinbach.htm. Here is the only example that I know of a product advertisement in an Altemus book. It is bound into the extremely rare 1895 Altemus edition of Baby’s Requirements by Elisabeth Robinson Scovil. The book which is 6.25 x 4.5 has a limp leatherette binding.

As you can see, here is an ad for Ivory Soap. It is placed in the back of the book and there are no other ads present. I cannot explain why this ad is in this book.

There is a chapter on bathing infants in the book but it does not mention Ivory Soap.

See also Non Series #16

This four book series (Worldly Wisdom Series) was published in five different formats. Format 3 books were published with imitation Morocco and came with labeled boxes.

Here is an example of that format in its box.

This 192 page book was published in 1893. It is 8.50 x 7. There are numerous line drawn full page illustrations within the book-both attributed and unattributed. It was priced a $1.00.

Abridged versions of this title are found in the Young Folks’ Quarto Series and Children’s Gift Series.

I have seen three cover variants of this title. They are in fine English cloth with an emblematic design. They differ in color and gilt on the front cover. There interiors are identical. I am unable to prioritize them.

See also Non Series #20

This two volume set was published in two different bindings: Cloth ($2.00) and Half Morocco ($3.25). The contents of each format is exactly the same.

Both editions were published in 1898. Another edition in the same cloth binding without a date on the title page has been seen. It is presumed this is a later publication.

Half Morocco	Cloth	1898 title page	Later title page

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See also Non Series #120

This 429 page 8″ x 5.5″ volume was published in non series form in 1895. It was published with the same cover as part of the Little Men and Women Series in 1907.

There are 145 illustrations. Most are line drawn black and white but there are three colored plates. The later edition does not have the plates.
The illustrations are mostly unattributed.

See also Non Series #134

This 233 page book is 7 x 4.5. There are no illustrations. The preface states that it is an exact reproduction of the first edition of the first part of Pilgrim’s Progress. This book was priced at $1.25.

Front Cover	Back Cover	Title Page

See also Non Series #28a

1909 Boxed Set
Beginning 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 Shakespeare’s Plays) 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).

Q: Hello, I’ve been meaning to look into the worth of my book, Poe’s Poems. It’s a small little green hardcover book without much information.

I will include some photos for your review.

A: Your book is part of the Classics Series and was published in the 1907-1909 era. It originally came with a dust jacket.

This book will be hard to sell for more than a few dollars.

This 254 page 9.5 x 7 was published with two covers distinguished only by their colors. The earlier book has a copyright page that notes 1915. The later book has no copyright page.

There are eight full color plates that are unattributed. There are also numerous other black and white illustrations.

Earlier edition	Later edition

See also Non Series #97

This 7 x 4.5 book has 273 pages plus ads. There are no illustrations. It was priced at 50 cents.

This book chronicles the story of the 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane which devastated South Carolina’s coastal lowlands.

Here is a contemporaneous book review from the ” Friends’ Intelligencer”.

See also Non Series #130