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.

La Belle Fleur Series

Q:  hello, i have a little book by this publisher (Altemus.) It is "Evangeline and Other Poems." There is no date anywhere. The book is brown cloth with red tulips and greenery on the cover. There are several illustrations. Can you tell me anything about this beautiful little book? Thanks

A:  Your book was published in 1901 as part of the La Belle Fleur Series. This series consisted of 131 books which were reprints of various essays, poems, religious works and fiction. The books all had the same basic cover design but the colors varied.

It originally came with a dust jacket but these jackets are nearly impossible to find nowadays. It has little value although when it comes to buying books sometimes people are willing to pay more than a book is objectively worth.

Langhorne Series

Q:  Can you possibly date and give a possible value to these two books? One measures measures 3 3/4" x 6 1/8" and is a soft sueded leather in reddish brown hue. The other seems to be a grayish fabric, measuring about 5" x 7 1/2" and has no publishing information but is by Edward Fitzgerald. I was given these by a deceased family member and know absolutely nothing about old books.Thanks for your consideration.

A:  The Altemus book was published between 1914 and 1917. See Langhorne Series

Without the original box the value is probably worth between $5-15.

I cannot tell you anything about the other book. Sorry.

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.

Life of Service Series

Q:  I recently in the past day acquired a Henry Altemus Company Hard Cover book from a garage sale for .50 Cents. Here are the known specs:

Publisher: Henry Altemus Company - Philadelphia
Title: The Greatest Thing In The World
Author Henry Drummond

From what I can gleam from your website, the book I have may be apart of the 'Friendship & Love Series' or the 'In His Name Series', Because it has the Pillar Supporting the Title on the Left and a Flowery cover on the right. But All I am sure of is that it was published some time after 1901 because of how the Publishers name is indicated.
Herein attached are photos of the Book in Question.

A:  Your book is part of the Life of Service Series.

See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series121.htm

As you can see it is a Format 2 book. Your book's format was published from 1915 to about 1924. I cannot narrow any particular book down further unless you have the dust jacket which has some information on the reverse.

Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series

Q:  Hello, I am trying to find out any information you may have on this book "Little Lambie Lambkin" it was published by the Henry Altemus Company in 1921. Is this a first edition? and anything else you may be able to tell me. Thank you in advance for your help.

A:  Your book is part of the eight volume Little Bunnie Bunniekin Series.

In order to determine what year your book was published in you can look at the endpapers and the advertisements. Look at the bottom book in a list of the ads and then go to the website and put in the name of that book. By doing that you should be able to determine the earliest the book could have been published.

http://henryaltemus.com/series/series124.htmand http://henryaltemus.com/wee_books/index.htm

Little Men and Women Series

Q:  Hello, I have an old book (Alice in Wonderland) that I've tried to find information about but so far I haven't had any luck with it. I'm attaching pictures of the front cover of the book as well as one of the inside pages and I'm hoping you might be able to tell me when this was published and what it might be worth.

Thank you for any information you can give me.

A:  Your book can be found in the Little Men and Women Series. See: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series125.htm. It is book #3. If there are ads in the back of the book, it can be dated fairly easily.

It is a reprint but even so, "Alice" collectors might be interested. Usually without the dust jacket this book will sell for between $10-35. Because your book is not in the best shape, a slightly lower price would be expected.

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.

Love and Friendship Series

Q:  I have a book (The Courting of Dinah Shadd) from my grandmother's estate, and I would like to give it to my son and daughter-in-law. A copy of the cover is attached. The book is in good condition, and was given to my grandmother at some point before 1907 as a Sunday School gift from her teacher.
I have researched as much as I can from your website, and would like to have an approximate value, or any additional information you have have, to include with notes in the book.

The only writing in the book is the notation by the teacher to my grandmother of the gift.

A:  Information about your book can be found here: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series127.htm

It is a reprint and this title is not in great demand.

It only has nominal value.

Love and Friendship Series

Q:  i've had this book since 1975. the title is "laddie" copyrighted in 1897 by henry altemus. i was wondering about the history of the book. also wondering what a book like that is worth.

A:  Your book can be found here: http://henryaltemus.com/series/series127.htm

This series of 33 books originally came with dust jackets. There are five different formats that evolved over the 11 year publication history (1901-1912).

Since it is a reprint of a not very collectible title without the original dust jacket, it only has nominal value.

Love and Friendship Series

Q:  I have had this book since I was about 10 years old and would like to know some history about it. It is The Tribune Primer by Eugene Field. It is in very good shape. A white cover gold flowers on the side and violets on the cover. There is no copyright date so I do not know how old it really is.

A:  Your book belongs to the Love and Friendship Series. It is series #127 in my bibliography. This series was published between 1901-1912. Your book was part of format #2 and was published in the early years of the series. This format had many different flowers on the right with a similar pattern noted on the left. It was originally jacketed.

For your interest, I have enclosed a pic from that format with a different flower. As you can see the flowers are similar and yet different. Probably the book has little more than nominal value.