I recall quite clearly my visit some 10 years ago to a well-known Philadephia book dealer. This was a first- class establishment - customers were not allowed to wander through the stacks and handle the inventory. Instead, you were ushered to a special viewing room where requested items were retrieved for your inspection. This was all done under the watchful eye of one of the employees or the owner. On this particular day it did not take long to peruse the meager and overpriced inventory of Alger books.
In any event, as I was about to leave the store the proprietor loudly boasted that he had just sold two Alger first editions complete with the original dust jackets. I don't remember my response, but I do remember thinking that this dealer was either misinformed or really stupid, or both. "There's no such thing as a dust jacket for a Horatio Alger first edition," I thought to myself as I left the store.
Time, however, has proven me wrong.
The focus of this article will be on dust jacket information for Alger books published after 1900. More specifically, first-edition Alger books, since reprint publishers also produced dust jackets during this period. Future articles will deal with pre-1900 jackets.
At this point in time there are only two known copies of post-1900 Horatio Alger first editions with dust jackets. They are "Wait and Win," published by the A.L. Burt Company in 1908, and "Ben Logan's Triumph," by Cupples & Leon, also published in 1908.
Alger experts have long speculated that both Cupples & Leon Alger products ("Joe the Hotel Boy" 1906) and "Ben Logan's Triumph" were issued with dust jackets since just about all C&L books published during this period were produced with jackets. A good example is the Motor Boys Series published from 1906-1924 (below).
It was not until September, 1994, however, that the dust
jacket for "Ben Logan's Triumph" was discovered and its
existence confirmed (see below). It is almost certain that "Joe the
Hotel Boy" was also published with jacket, but to date
no copies have surfaced. (editors note: a copy of "Joe the
Hotel Boy in dust jacket appeared in 1996).
Cupples & Leon utilized its familiar salmon-colored paper for "Ben Logan's Triumph" which, unfortunately, was quite fragile. More fragile than, say, a Hurst dust jacket or even a Saalfield dust jacket. The front inside flap lists eight Motor Boys titles by "Clarence Young" and the rear flap advertises three Great Marvel books by "Roy Rockwood" and the two Alger titles.
The back cover lists the eight Motor Boys books again, along with four Jack Ranger titles and four Darewell Chums volumes. The Motor Boys dust jacket contains similar advertising for Jack Ranger, Motor Girls, and Webster Series books. All of these books, incidentally, were products of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.
The A.L. Burt Company dust jacket for "Wait and Win," the
existence of which has been known for some time, is shown
below:
Burt used the common practice of reproducing the binding picture on the jacket with line drawings, printed in this case on coated white paper. The front and rear flaps are blank with the only advertising appearing on the rear cover. The caption reads "GOOD FICTION WORTH READING" followed by a list of 14 historical and romantic novels, none of which would seem appealing to young readers.
Although I am not aware of a copy of "In Search of Treadure" (A.L. Burt Co., 1907) in dust jacket, it seems likely that it existed at one time. Burt expert Brad Chase (PF-412) informs me tht the earliest-known A.L. Burt jacket for an Alger book is 1905.
The earliest known dust jacket extant for a Mershon book (which
published six of the Stratemeyer-Alger titles in first edition
from 1900 to 1904) is a Rover Boys title printed in 1906.
This, of course, does not preclude the possibility of earlier
jackets.
Both Chatterton-Peck and Stitt Publishing Company books have been found with dust jackets on uncoated white paper and replicating the binding picture, similar to the Rover Boys jacket just mentioned.
Many Penn editions of boy's books have been located with pictoral dust jackets as well. In my Penn Publishing Company collection I have jackets in the Philip Kent and College Athletic Series, both by T. Truxton Hare; and a Don Hale dust jacket published circa 1919.
Newsboy editor Bill Gowen informs me that a dust jacket for the 1904 Penn first-edition printing of "Winning his Way to West Point" by Capt. Paul B. Malone, the first volume of the West Point Series published from 1904-1911 (below).
The publishing firm of Thompson & Thomas produced one Alger first edition ("A Rolling Stone" - 1902) and six other reprint titles during this period. Although I am not aware of any dust jackets for these books, I wouldn't be surprised if one were to appear someday.
Unfortunately, this is all of the known dust jacket information for post-1900 Alger first editions. Perhaps in the future additional dust jackets will be discovered and made known to collectors.
Incidentally, I recently learned that the two Alger first
editions in dust jacket that had slipped through my fingers
10 years ago were bona fide Alger titles. "Rupert's Ambition"
and "Walter Sherwood's Probation" are now safely in the possession
of a long-time Society member.
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Reprinted from the March/April 1995 Newsboy