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.

Devotional Series

Q:  I recently purchased an old copy of "John Ploughman's Talk" by Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon published by Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia. It has no date in it. I would like to know how old it is. Can you help me? Attached are pictures to help.

A:  Your book is part of the Devotional Series (#75) and was published between 1901-1904. As you can see, there is a picture inside the oval on the cover of the book. There were a number of different pictures with this one appearing most often.

Little Men and Women Series

Q:  I have a copy of "Alice in Wonderland And Through The Looking Glass" that appears to be undated. I have attached 2 pictures for your review. Can you please tell me anything about this wonderful, old book?

A:  Your book is from the Little Men and Women Series (#125), It was published between 1908 and 1915. This series of reprints originally came with jackets. Although there is nothing to distinguish the earlier in the series from the later in the series as far as the text goes, the covers and the ads did change as the years advanced. It appears from your cover that your book was one of the later books.

Vademecum Series

Q:  I have found a very old Henry Altemus book. I am waiting for my batteries to recharge to send you a photo.

The title page contains:
Honore De Balzac
Shorter Stories
Philadelphia
Henry Altemus
All lettering in Red with Green decorative. The back of the title page lists in red: Copyright 1895 by Henry Altemus

The cover looks strikingly like Series 180 Vademecum. I don't seem to be able to identify this book. I would appreciate any help you can provide.

A:  Your book is a 1901 Vademecum Series book. For several years the Vademecum books had various cover styles within which was a painted picture such as yours. These pictures (of which I know of 27) were used randomly with all of each year's books. The 1901 book came in at least 6 different colors. Thus for any given title there would be at least 162 different combinations of pictures and cover colors. Although any one book might be hard to find, the books of this series are relatively common. Certain titles are a bit more collectible than others. This is not because of scarcity but rather just because the title or author is more widely known. The Alice in Wonderland books by Carroll would be an example. They usually only bring nominal value when sold.

Banbury Cross Series

Q:  I have a copy of a book titled "Old Mother Hubbard" with added stories of Puss in Boots and A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go, By Henry Altemus, copyright, 1904. (46 Illustrations. I would be interested in information you may have about the book and if it has any value please.

A:  This ten volume series was published in 1904. These Fairy Tales' books all initially had dust jackets. Value is nominal without the jacket. See ../series/series44.htm for more information.

Library of Standard Authors

Q:  We have a Library of Standard Authors book called Tales of Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. The book is depicted on your website at http://henryaltemus.com/series/series120.htm. It is the first cover on the left.

How do we determine if this book is a first edition?

A:  It is not a first edition. Altemus first published this book in 1892 in the Altemus Library Series. The actual first edition however was published in 1807. As a general rule all Altemus published works of fiction were reprints.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I have a book published by Henry Altemus Company, Poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The book is about 4 1/2 inches wide and 6 1/2 inches long. 186 pages. The front hardcover has pink, white and green flowers. A fancy design is embossed in gold. I cannot find a date. The print seems to be embossed like it was pressed to print. The contents start out with Cambrigde Churchyard, old Ironsides The last reader, Our Yankee Girls etc. Is there anyway to date this book?? Thanks.

A:  Your book was published in 1901-02 as part of the Petit Trianon Series. Without the original box and because of its poor shape it probably has very little value.

Vademecum Series

Q:  I have the "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" 4 1/4" by 6 1/4" with no date of publishing. Date and value?

A:  Your book was published in 1907 as part of the Vademecum Series. Although it is obviously a great book in nice condition, it has only nominal value. Perhaps if it had the original box it came in it would be worth a few dollars.

Petit Trianon Series

Q:  I am having a hard time identifying any type of date for this book (see image attachment). Could you please tell me more about this book, specifically date and print, issue number, etc.

A:  Your book is part of the Petit Trianon Series and was published in 1903-1904. This was a large multi-volume multi-authored Series of reprints of fiction and nonfiction books published between 1896-1910. There were numerous formats which generally changed on a yearly basis.

Vademecum Series

Q:  The attached file (jpeg) shows the book titled "Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow". It measures 6.5 inches x 4.25 inches. No copyright/publication is present Philadelphia and Henry Altemus Company is shown near the bottom of the title page. The book has 226 pages plus 24 pages of book publications for sale. It also has one (1) each double-sided blank page in the front and back of the book.

It would be appreciated if you could tell me what you know about the book, as well as its publication. Also appreciated would be a price range.

A:  Your book is part of the Vademecum Series published in 1903. This series was a multi volume series of reprints of fiction, poetry, essays, etc.

Each book in the series originally was boxed.

The picture on the front was used in several different formats in the early 1900s.

Value is between $0-15.

Although it is a very nice book, it is not a book of great collector interest.

Young People's Library

Q:  I have a book "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" by Lewis Carroll, with 50 illustrations. It has a cloth cover with old english style printing of the title in silver. Alice has yellow hair and is wearing a red dress. She's looking into the mirror which has characters from the book in blue on silver background. The book is small about 6 x 4.5. It says on the third page "Price 50 Cents Each" and Henry Altemus, Philadelphia - Copyright 1895 by Henry Altemus. The book is old but I wanted to find out more about it. Can you help.

A:  I will assume that your book is as is shown below.
This book is part of the Young People's Library and you are right that it is from format 1. Format 1 was published from 1895 to early 1898. This particular book was published in several colors. The 1895 book has the date on the bottom of the title page whereas the later reprints do not.

If your book does not have the date on the title page, then the year of publication can be determined by the ads in the front of the book. Listing to Grimm's Fairy Tales-1896, to Black Beauty-1897, Flower Fables- Later 1897-1898.

This is the first Altemus edition (but a later reprint overall) of this book by itself. Altemus did publish this story in combination with Alice in Wonderland in another format in 1895.

This book is not especially rare but it is a nice example of the original pictures by Tenniel of this work.