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Book publishers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries used a number of means to promote their latest works. Trade magazines such as Publishers' Weekly were packed with the latest publishers' offerings. Some companies sent out fliers to bookstores and potential customers. Altemus mainly used inserts placed into books. Sometimes these consisted of a mini-catalogue of books. Other times the ads were a single sheet advertising several books. Although I have accumulated a number of these over the years, I am convinced that what you see here is just the tip of the ad iceberg.

During the 90 plus year history of the Altemus publishing firm it published more than books, photographic albums, Bibles etc. Altemus not only bound books for others in the early years but produced numerous items under the Altemus & Co. imprint for others needing paper items. In this section some of these items will be shown.

 

Click thumbnail images to enlarge.

 

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Date Series Information
15 Feb 2012

Envelope-Advertising Cover (1890)

 

This is a very rare Altemus advertising cover from 1890. In 1889 Altemus published the six titles of the Dore's Masterpieces Series. (http://henryaltemus.com/series/series78.htm). All six oversized volumes were published until 1903 in a number of different formats. Because of the beautiful Gustave Dore illustrations, these books are always in great demand and sell for a premium.

This advertising cover pictures Format 1- Volume 1 in the series. The other books are listed at the top of the envelope. Die Dore Bibel Gallerie is a German translation of Volume #1 and was included in this series beginning in 1892. (Thus, at that point there were seven titles in the series.)

In my opinion this is one of the rarest pieces of Altemus ephemera.

 

29 Sep 2011

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.

 

28 Sep 2011

Altemus letter- 1890's

 

 

07 Aug 2011

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.

 

17 Jul 2011

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.

 

07 Jun 2011

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.

 

24 Jan 2011

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.

 

29 Nov 2010

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.

 

30 Oct 2010

Leinbach & Bro. Advertising

 

Henry Altemus/Altemus & Co. published books for department stores over the years. Altemus published Bibles for Montgomery Ward (see http://www.henryaltemus.com/publications/montward.htm) and Shakespeare's Works for Gusky's, a clothier in Pittsburgh (See http://henryaltemus.com/publications/gusky.htm).

 

 

Altemus had a long relationship with Leinbach & Bro. which was a clothier store in Reading, Pennsylvania. As early as 1893 and as late as 1915 Leinbach gave away Altemus books as some sort of promotion (perhaps with the purchase of an item). Most of these books are stamped on the front or back cover with "Compliments of Leinbach & Bro". Within these books are two pages of ads for Leinbach. One ad is bound into the front and one is bound into the back of the book. There are a number of different versions of the ads. Some ads are personalized to the book it is placed in. An example is found in the book "Ifs". The front ad is titled- "Ifs of Clothing". (see below) I have never seen any other company advertisements placed within an Altemus book.

A variety of books and their ads are shown below.

 


1893

 

 

 


1894

 

 

 



1896

 

 

 


1899

 

 

 


1900 from the book Paul Kruger

 

 

 



1902

 

 

 



1902-1903

 

 

 



1907

 

 

 



From the book "Ifs" - 1907

 

 

 



Post-1907

 

 

 



1909

 

 

The "Brief History" ad is similar to the Post-1915 pictures except that there is a different border decoration and the lettering font is different. The "Reasonable Clothing" ad has a different border decoration than the similar post-1915 ad. It is the same however as the ad found in the 1915 book.

 


1911-1914

 

 

 


1914

 

 

 




1915

 

 

 




Around 1915

 

 

 



Post-1915

 

 

 

Henry Altemus was not the only publishing house to have a relationship with Leinbach & Bro. I have recently discovered two other publishers whose books were given away "compliments of Leinbach & Bro.".

Hurst & Co., a New York publisher, that was active from the early 1870's to 1919 published numerous reprint series as well as many juvenile series in the first and second decade of the 20th century.

Two Hurst books are shown here.

The first is a 1910 book, Little Minister, published within the 108 book Ansonia Series. Although this publisher's series was printed for several years, since the ad states that Leinbach had been active for forty-five years, the book must be from 1910 because the company started in 1865. 1865 + 45 = 1910.

The back of the book ad is the same that was seen in the Altemus books beginning in 1909.

 




1910

 

The second Hurst book, Brooks' Addresses is part of the 25 volume Golden Hour Series. Because the front ad notes that Leinbach & Bro. has been active for 46 years, this is therefore a 1911 book. Again the back ad of "Reliable Clothing" is unchanged from the 1909 ad.

 




1911

 

I. M. Beaver was a small religious book publishing house located in Reading, Pa. It would seem therefore to be a natural for Leinbach & Bro. advertising.

The ads in this book have not been seen elsewhere. The book is about several people "rambling through Europe". The front ad mentions how the rambling men wore Leinbach clothes in their travels. The back ad is a general information blurb. The back ad notes that Leinbach has been operating for 47 years. Thus -1912 is the year for these ads. Since the book's title page has 1911 at the base. Most likely the ad went into unsold 1911 books.

 



1912

 

 

Leinbach & Bro. was founded by Joseph A. and George A. Leinbach in 1865. The store was located at 851 Penn Street (8th and Penn) in Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1890 Charles Leinbach, a nephew, was also made a named partner. The company incorporated in 1919. Its product line included men's and boys' suits as well as children's clothing. Overcoats are also noted in a number of ads.

Some examples of Leinbach trade cards and other advertising are also shown below.


 


 


1889


1889

 

 

 

 

15 Oct 2010

Read's Female Poets of America, Third Edition

 

Read's Female poets of America, Third Edition, published by E. H. Butler in 1850 is reviewed in Sartain's Magazine in 1849. As can be seen, the article notes that Altemus did the ornamental design. Without this article it would be impossible to be sure what company did the binding.

It is of interest that the decorative pattern is very similar to the 1850 Leaflets of Memory (see Altemus bindery page) book also published by E.H. Butler.

 

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