Henry Altemus Company

Pamphlet Advertising for Juvenile Series (1910-1911)

This 32 page advertising pamphlet advertises four different boys juvenile series: Motor Boat Club, Submarine Boys, Pony Rider Boys and High School Boys. There is an excerpt from each series and then a full page ad listing the books from the series. It is 6.5 x 4.5.

The pamphlet lists books published as late as 1910 but not any 1912 books.

This is the second Altemus advertising pamphlet that I have seen. Both only highlighted juvenile series.

Front Cover

Altemus message to "Young Booklovers"

Representative Pages

Altemus & Co. Postcard-1892

This is the only postcard I have seen with the Altemus and Co. imprint. It is dated November 17, 1892 and relates to a bill. This is a very unusual and scarce item.

Altemus letter- 1890's

Stationery/ Altemus Letter 1891

Although I have seen envelopes with the stamped Altemus return address, I have previously not seen stationery with the Altemus letterhead. Here is an example from 1891.

Interestingly the subject of this letter relates to a potential order from a firm in Curwensville. Just above there are two invoices/receipts from the Curwensville Bank. These invoices were written one month after the letter. Perhaps they are related.

Boys and Girls Classics (new)

Here is a new advertising flyer for this series of fifteen books. The one sheet advertisement which is 9 x 3.25 shows an example of a book cover and lists all of the books.

This series had a number of cover pictures all of which were made from different linen swatches. See http://henryaltemus.com/series/series57.htm.

The books initially came in labeled boxes but later some were issued with dust jackets. Frequently there is confusion between these books and those from the Young People's Library. This is because the interiors of the books of the same title are identical including the title page which states "Young People's Library".

The date of publication can be confusing also since Altemus often put the copyright date on the title page. This series' books can be dated by studying the ads in the back of the book. The series was published between 1908 and 1926.

Shown below with the flyer are cover, box and dust jacket examples.

Non Series #16- Baby's Requirements

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.

Pamphlet Advertising for Juvenile Series (1913)

This 32 page advertising pamphlet for Altemus' juvenile series books is exceptionally uncommon. I have seen two such pamphlets (including this one) over the years. This piece is 6.375 x 4.5.

Five boys' juvenile series are highlighted with full page ads that show the book's cover. Four of the five have an excerpt from the book in the pamphlet. Interestingly this pamphlet has a store name, P. B. Magrane Store, stamped on it. Most likely Altemus made these advertising pamphlets available to stores which thereafter could individualize them. Really, an excellent way for Altemus to market its books. What is fascinating is that the store advertised the books for sale at 25 cents even though the price on the books was actually 50 cents. Perhaps the store got a bulk deal on the books or maybe was willing to take less profit per book to get the customer into their store. The P. B. Magrane Store in Lynn, Massachusetts , like most large department stores before the era of free standing book stores (now coming to an end) had a book department. Patrick Byrne Magrane (1852-1933) had immigrated from Ireland. He founded his namesake store in 1876 in Lynn, Mass. The store was still in business in the 1950's.

Non Series #88- A Little Garden Calendar

This two page flyer was found in a Young People's Library-Format 3 book published in 1911-1912. The Little Garden Calendar was first published by Altemus in 1905. There is nothing on the flyer that can help to date it. The price of the book is noted to be $1.00. This was the price that Altemus listed in every ad for the book from 1905 on.

Altemus book published for Montgomery Ward & Co.

In Series #85-Famous Red and White Books (http://henryaltemus.com/series/series85.htm) Uncle Tom's Cabin was book #10. It was published in 1894. A book with the identical cover and contents has been discovered that has Montgomery Ward & Co. as the imprint as opposed to Henry Altemus. The Montgomery Ward book says "Souvenir Edition" at the top of the title page and has Montgomery Ward & Co., with the 111-116 Michigan Avenue, Chicago address at the base of the title page.

The copyright page for both books is identical: Henry Altemus, 1894.

This book undoubtedly was published by Altemus for Montgomery Ward. I suspect it was a promotional item since it does have "Souvenir Edition" printed on the top of the title page. Most likely it was published in the mid-1890's.

Altemus & Co.- Blank Book

Here is a 19th century blank book published by Altemus & Co. This is only the second one that I have seen.

As is also noted in the previous blank book shown, inside the front cover is a label indicating Altemus & Co. with catalogue number and volume identifiers.

This book dates from the 1880's. Altemus was at the 26 South Fourth Street address at that time. It appears that the 26 S. Fourth Street address was used mainly for ledgers and blank books while the Market Street and later the Cherry Street addresses were publishing Photographic Albums and Bibles.

I want to thank Susan Caughlan from the Worchester Historical Society for providing these pictures.