Publishers' Series
Publishers' series, a marketing gimmick by which selected titles were
issued in uniform editions, were popular with readers and profitable for
the larger publishing houses during the nineteenth century. Libraries and
individuals could acquire relatively inexpensive editions of texts that
had already been selected by publishers as significant. Publishers
profited because titles issued in a series remained in print longer than
others, and the inclusion of series lists in subsequent volumes was a
cheap
way to advertise. In the United States Harper & Brothers of New York were
pioneers in the area of series publishing. Almost every one of their
series had the word "library" in its title, reinforcing the notion that
purchasers were not merely buying books but building libraries. Harper's
Family Library, advertised as the "cheapest series of popular works ever
published," grew over fifteen years to include 187 non-fiction
titles. Their School District Library included 212 titles bound in 295
volumes, and was a prescribed purchase by many local school boards. Other
series issued by Harper include the Boy's and Girl's Library, the Library
of Select Novels, and the Theological Library.
In Boston, Ticknor and Fields Books in Blue and Gold, which commenced
publications in 1856 and so called for their characteristic bindings of
gold-stamped decoration on bright blue cloth, were an instant success and
made it clear to publishers that buyers do judge books by their
covers. Imitations of this extremely popular binding style were soon
adopted and marketed by other publishers throughout the country.
Recognizing the importance of publishers' series within the context of
publishing history, a new classification, "Publishers' Series," was
organized and examples of this genre were pulled from all the literary and
topical collections in which they had formerly been dispersed. Arranged
by series title or by publisher/series title, the Society's collection
includes titles from nine of the Harper libraries, seventy-two editions of
fifty-two titles issued in the series Books in Blue and Gold, and many
other titles issued in series published by Carey & Lea in Philadelphia,
Scribner's, the American Tract Society, and G.P. Putnam's in New York, and
Stimson & Clapp, Wells & Lilly, Marsh Capen, Lyon & Webb, and Hilliard &
Brown in Boston and Cambridge.
All titles shelved in this classification are
cataloged online to full rare book standards. Access is provided by
series title as well as by all the usual points. Currently there are 685
records for titles published between 1828 and 1876.
- Doris O'Keefe, Senior Cataloger
|
|
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
|
|
