A Series of Series

These pages document a personal collection of around 3000 books with dust jackets in over 500 different publishers’ book series from the 1890s through the 1980s. The books are appealing as they allude to a largely undocumented history of personal, home library books for readers of modest means.

These pages provide basic documentation for the many publishers’ series that don’t have much documentation elsewhere. Excellent resources exist for the Modern Library and Everyman’s Library, but there is nothing even close for other series. Information and images here provide some background and empirical data about the books, their jackets, the range of titles in the series, book, and jacket changes over time, and publishers.

This site documents actual books with jackets I own: as I buy copies of books from additional series, the books and series will be added to the site.

Please let me know if you find a page missing images. Some were corrupted in the recent move to a new server.

Updates 7/7/2024

This work including all pages and their text and images, other than those freely available elsewhere, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

In the last few decades, there has been growth in scholarly interest in publishers’ reprint book series. The two volumes of The Culture of the Publisher’s Series, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2011), edited by John Spiers, highlight this growing area of research. Publisher’s reprint series shaped literary taste, particularly with “common” readers who could afford to buy cheap series of books and assemble a home library. Publisher’s series also speaks to the development of the book trade, the marketing of books, the role of copyright, the shaping of “the canon,” and the social and human context within which these books are embedded. Lise Jaillant examines the impact of book series on the development of literary modernism in the 20th century. Cheap Modernism: Expanding Markets, Publishers’ Series and the Avant-Garde (Edinburgh University Press, 2017) use series such as the Oxford World Classics, the New Adelphi Library, and the Phoenix Library as a way to argue that cheap, modernist literature – via inexpensive publishers’ series – was an important component of the emergence of literary modernism in the 20th century.

Dust jackets have received increasing attention from scholars. Long ignored by most bibliographers and literary researchers, jackets were also likely to be thrown away, much like the packaging for any product. Scholarly efforts have attempted to address the importance of book jackets, examining their graphical character, their role in marketing, and the information found only on jackets about books, authors, and publishers. A good example of the latter issue is how some of the series books on these pages only include the series name on the jackets (there is no indication in the book itself that it is part of a series). It is relatively easy to find reprint series books but much more difficult to find with jackets. Jackets were not uncommon in the 1860s and were probably used on most books by the 1870s. It is safe to say that many hardcover series books published after the 1870s had jackets, although very few have survived. In addition, few of those jackets were preserved by libraries, so it is nearly impossible to find accessible systematic collections of publishers’ reprint series and their jackets.

I do not include books here with missing dust jackets. I include books wrapped in tissue or in a box or sleeve. I include paperbound series with jackets (and a few without) published before WW2. Most hardcover series books from the 1870s onward had jackets, which are an integral part of these books. Certain series books were issued without jackets, such as book series sold in quantities to schools. These can usually be distinguished by extensive information (including series name, serial number, and other details) on the book cover itself: information that would have been on a jacket had it been issued.

G. Thomas Tanselle’s Book-Jackets: Their History, Forms, and Use (2011) is an excellent review of the history of the dust jacket and its literary, artistic, and intellectual importance. He also includes a census of known 19th-century dust jackets.

The entries here are not up to strict bibliographic standards, nor complete for every series. There are series not fully documented here (many are listed, unlinked to their own page, on the Publishers & Series page). Not included here are non-English language series, single-author collections, juvenile series (unless they are reprints of classics, aimed at a young-adult audience), scholarly monograph series (unless they are aimed at a general readership), and technical series. The series here are mostly hardcover, but I include a pre-WW2 paperback series (issued with or without jackets).

I appreciate hearing about errors or omissions and will happily adjust the content on these pages. Given the lack of information on most of these publishers’ book series, I’ve had to scrape together information from scattered sources and make educated guesses about the time spans of series, titles included in series, and publisher information. I am slowly adding “revised” dates to entries as I update them (grammar and content).

Information on titles in series, series & book dates, book values, book dimensions, and additional resources are below.

Titles in Series

In some cases, I compile lists of titles in series and scans of lists from jackets or books; catalogs change over time as more titles are added to or removed from the series. Slow-selling titles are often left to go out of print. Series such as Everyman’s Library and the Modern Library routinely replaced titles and reused series numbers. The highest numbered regular series Modern Library book is 396, but there are around 500 regular, unique titles. Finding the final list of titles requires researching all existing catalogs and lists of titles (from inside books and jackets) and bibliographic research on sites such as WorldCat. Scans here are a start for anyone interested in compiling titles in a particular series. Dust jackets are often vital for this kind of project.

If the books themselves do not indicate the series name (eg., the series name is on the jacket only, which most libraries discard), it means the series name may not be included in library records (such as those at WorldCat). Library catalogers don’t always include the book series in the bibliographic entry, even when the book is named in the book. Publisher’s reprint series are often absent from library catalogs. If the books were out of copyright, there was no reason to send a copy to the Library of Congress or the British Library. In addition, libraries usually don’t acquire reprints when they already have the original books (or other reprints) in their collections.

Series & Book Dates

Determining the start and end years of a reprint series can be complicated. If a publisher followed typical procedure, they would include a printing date in the book. Often, the book’s original publication date and the reprint date (or dates) are indicated with a reprint series. In this case, WorldCat is a good indication of the span of years of a particular series. Another good source for the start date of a particular series, especially if dates are not included in the books, is a search of periodicals (on sites like Google Books or HathiTrust) for publisher announcements or advertisements.

The end year of a series is more complicated. In many instances, a few more popular books from a series were reprinted long after the series was no longer active. It is rare to find a publisher’s announcement that they have ended a series. On this site, I have tried to estimate when a series ended by considering the last title published and a significant drop in reprints from the series. The end dates are educated guesses in many instances.

In dating a particular series book, only the minority of series include the actual date of the reprint. Dates are often not included in reprint series books; the lack of a date does not mean the book is the first edition. Indeed, there are few true first editions in these reprint series as most are reprints. At best, you have the first reprint edition, which is sometimes noted in the book.

If included, the date may be a copyright date for the title itself or the plates (often much earlier than the book was printed).

In a few cases, dates are indicated on the jackets (dated catalogs) or in the back of the books.

Book Designers

Paul Shaw (website), an expert (among other things) on book designer William Addison Dwiggins, has provided a list of book series designed by Dwiggins (see below). This correspondence reminds me that this site is essentially a collection of empirical data (specific books and jackets and scans) with many interesting and important stories, such as book and jacket design, that are only superficially addressed. Book design is one of those stories. I mention book and jacket designers if indicated in or in the books, but this is only infrequently the case.

Series Dwiggins designed or was involved with in some manner:

• Alblabooks [Knopf]
• Borzoi Books for Sportsmen [Knopf]
• Borzoi Pocket Books [Knopf]
• The Chronicles of America [Yale University Press]
• Evergreen Series [Houghton Mifflin]
• Hart Books [Leo Hart]
• Harvard Health Talks [Harvard University Press]
• Hill Readers [Ginn & Co.]
• Humanist Library [Merrymount Press]
• Inner Sanctum Novels [Simon & Schuster]
• Mercury Books [Mercury Books, Heinemann]
• New Hudson Shakespeare [Ginn & Co.]
• The Printer’s Valhalla Series [Leo Hart]
• Reader’s Club [George Macy]
• Reading for Interest [Heath]
• Riverside Library [Houghton & Mifflin]
• Sun Dial Library [Garden City Publishing]
• Vintage Books [Vintage]
• Visual Vocabulary Series [Heath]
• Yale Series of Younger Poets [Yale University Press]

Series Dwiggins was possibly involved with:

• Black Widow Thrillers [Knopf]
• Pocket Books [Pocket Books]

Book Values

Reprint series books are generally not worth much, especially without a jacket. Even with a jacket and in good condition, the book may be rare and sometimes very rare, but that does not equate to value. Most of the books documented here were purchased for $10 or less. On eBay, I am often the only bidder on books from reprint series – even for very scarce old copies with dust jackets. Nobody collects 99% of these book series. There are exceptions where reprint series books are worth something:

Collected Series: for example, the Modern Library and Everyman’s Library. More valuable copies include jacketed older copies and rarities. Few other series seem to have organized collectors and information sources.

Collectible Authors: For example, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hemingway, Doyle, the Tarzan series, etc. In these cases, condition and a good dust jacket are usually required.

Collectible Titles: For example, Dracula, especially if the dust jacket is illustrated. William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience, because of its connection to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Collectible Book/Jacket Design:

New Classics Series: Alvin Lustig’s mid-century modern jacket designs; only copies with Lustig jackets in good condition.

British Readers Library books with jackets, especially movie tie-in titles.

Blackie’s Red Letter Library, Red Letter Poets, etc. with Glaswegian arts and crafts designs

Salvador Dali illustrations: Dali illustrated many books in the 1950s and copies of reprint series (such as the Illustrated Modern Library) with his illustrations can be valuable.

Additional Resources

AbeBooks.com: Of all the online used book sites, AbeBooks has the best quality control of entries and ease of searching. Useful for finding start and end dates of series (in tandem with WorldCat), and seeing images of series books (if an image of the book is included). Also useful for buying books. Limitations include a large number of books without images, dealers who do not indicate series names in the entries, and the listing of books without jackets under the “dust jacket included” category (often with the false statement “issued without a jacket”).

Henry Altemus Company: Contains extensive information about the late 19th and early 20th-century publisher of book series. Also includes information on other contemporary series publishers.

Chronicling America: Hundreds of historical U.S. newspapers from 1836-1922 scanned and searchable. A good source for book reviews, advertisements, etc.

On “Colonial” Editions & Series: “Bell’s Indian And Colonial Library” by B J McMullin, from The Book Collectors’ Society of Australia, here (PDF).

Dictionary of Literary Biography: available to academic institutions online, this resource has extensive author, book, and publisher history information.

The Directory of American Book Publishing, from Founding Fathers to Today’s Conglomerates. George Thomas Kurian. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975. A useful, succinct supplement to the massive four-volume A History of Book Publishing in the United States by Tebbel (see below). Kurian’s book includes entries for hundreds of publishers with brief historical facts about each. Out of print, but gently-used inexpensive ex-library copies can be found on internet book sites.

eBay: Inconsistent, with a range of people selling books from expert dealers to random people clearing junk out of their houses, eBay’s international reach and a huge number of sellers do make it a decent site for finding obscure series books as well as getting start and end dates of series. Benefits include photos for almost every auction and (often) low prices for old series books.

Elephind: Searches thousands of freely available full-text historical newspaper archives (including Chronicling America). For some reason, an emphasis on Australian content.

The English Catalog of Books, vol. IV, for January 1881 to December 1889 (full source). This periodical (there are likely other volumes) contains a section on “Collections, Libraries, Series, etc.” which includes what is likely a comprehensive listing of UK series and their titles issued in the 1880s, including series numbers for those that used them. A PDF of the series section alone is here.

Google Books: for old publisher advertisements, series lists, and dates. Limited by lack of access to full-text versions of many of the books Google has scanned. There are full-view scans from about 1910 and earlier. Search for a series name, then sort the entries by date to trace a series from start to end.

HathiTrust: “a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.” Access to older magazines, journals, and publications with contemporary reprint series information.

A History of Book Publishing in the United States. John William Tebbel. New York: Bowker, 1972-1981.

Volume 1. The Creation of an Industry, 1630-1865
Volume 2. The Expansion of an Industry, 1865-1919
Volume 3. The Golden Age Between Two Wars, 1920-1940
Volume 4. The Great Change, 1940-1980

By far the most comprehensive history of American publishing. Tebbel took on a complicated and nearly impossible-to-organize task: documenting the myriad of companies and issues that comprise the history of publishing in the U.S. Tebbel worked his way through the entire run of Publishers Weekly (see below), among other materials. Thus his massive four-volume history includes many details, including reprint book series. The volumes are out of print, but many gently used ex-library copies are available online for a pittance if you search a bit.

Internet Archive: “A collection of items created by a non-profit organization dedicated to permanently preserving historically significant collections in digital form. Though it includes internet sites, images, audio recordings, and music archives, it is widely known for its digitized book collections, which cover everything from fiction to historical and academic texts. Both in-copyright and public domain materials can be found here.” Access to older magazines, journals, and publications with contemporary reprint series information.

Edward T. LeBlanc Memorial Dime Novel Bibliography: An extensive list with details including hundreds of paper-bound dime novel series published in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century (an era and format not covered in as much detail here). Includes an overview of the history and characteristics of the dime novel: Paper for the People.

The Literary Year-Book (Google Books). A 999-page compendium of all things book and literary-related. Google Books has a full-text version from 1912. Particularly useful is an Appendix (which I have modified, rotating some pages and adding the ability to search text): “Tabulated List of the Books Contained in Ninety-Three Different Series of Cheap Book Reprints.” A list of the reprint series is followed by a list of authors/titles and which series feature them.

Little Blue Books Bibliography: A bibliography with history and additional information about the small, soft-bound Little Blue Books series published by Haldeman-Julius.

Firms Out Of Business: A database of exactly what the title says; useful for basic information on publishers, including dates of incorporation and dissolution.

The Lucile Project: Documenting the numerous printed versions of the late 19th-century book Lucile (by Owen Meridith), this project has documented a broad array of reprint series and publishers active between 1860-1938 when around 100 publishers sold at least 2000 editions of Lucile. The Publisher’s page contains information about many obscure (and some not so obscure) publishers and descriptions of many reprint series that contained Lucile. Strong on the numerous late 19th and early 20th century series, with extensive historical information on publishers from this era.

Modernist Magazine Archive: Scans of “little magazines”: “The Modernist Magazine Project aims to refine and enhance the record by producing a scholarly resource and comprehensive critical and cultural history of modernist magazines in the period 1880-1945.” Advertisements and mentions of many publishers’ series.

Paperback Revolution: Focused on paperbound books from 1840 to the end of the Second World War. Paperback series co-existed with hardcover reprint series in this era and is a primary source of competition for the book-buying public. In-depth blog postings on series and series history.

ProQuest American Periodicals Series: available to academic institutions: Includes “periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines and many other historically significant periodicals.” Access to older magazines, journals, and publications with contemporary reprint series information.

Publishers Weekly: Historical copies of this periodical, published from 1872 to date, contain a wealth of information about reprint series books. Unfortunately, only selected early 20th-century volumes are available as full text. HathiTrust has links to many of the early volumes, from v.3 (1873) through v.102 (1922), and will undoubtedly add new volumes as they come out of copyright.

Publishers’ Bindings Online 1815-1930: “All academic libraries have within their holdings books bound in 19th century decorative bindings. These materials are significant in their place within the fabric of American history and culture, but efforts to present these bindings in a collection representative of the era as a whole and to make them available virtually, via the World Wide Web have been limited. PBO, a significant digital collection of decorative bindings, along with a comprehensive glossary and guide to the elements of these objects, will strengthen the growing interest in and create broader awareness for this “common” object called the book.” In particular, the extensive glossary of bookbinding terms helps identify terms related to the binding of books from this era.

Publishers’ Trade List Annual: A very detailed source of US publishing efforts from the late 1900s through the mid-20th century, when it evolved into Books in Print. Many advertisements and announcements of series and series titles. Regrettably, PTLA can be difficult to consult. Sid Huttner (Lucile Project) informed me (1/19/2023) that nearly all the yearly volumes of PTLA (to 1927) are now available on the Internet Archive.  It is often useful to review the catalog a publisher submitted to PTLA in a particular year, but not every publisher submitted catalogs yearly. Hence it is helpful to consult an Index of Publisher’s Catalogs 1873-1947 to confirm the run includes catalogs you wish to consult before attempting to find the volumes in a library or elsewhere.

Publishing History: Includes book series and lists of titles in series. The most comprehensive listing of publishers’ series with many full lists of titles in series.

Quality Paperback Series: The site includes many quality paperback series not included here, especially those that appear after WW2. Includes an alphabetical and chronological list of series, publishers, series by subject, and a history of quality paperbacks.

Reference Catalogue of Current Literature, J. Whitaker & Sons: What seems to have started in 1875 as a literal listing of all books available in print evolved into a collection of publisher’s catalogs that, upon perusal, seem to include all titles in print by a particular publisher at a particular time. By the 1930s, these books turned into what are the most absurdly massive bound volumes I’ve ever seen.

Replacement List of Fiction, with Selected List of Recommended Series and Suggested Specifications for Book Manufacture. Carl Cannon. Chicago, American Library Association, 1933. An excellent overview of the characteristics and limitations of reprint series books for library use. The authors focus on all aspects of book design and construction and are critical of many reprint series lack of editorial oversight, poor typography, size, cheap paper, bindings, etc. This report helps distinguish well-crafted reprint series from cheap and marginal in quality. The report also includes a relatively comprehensive list of reprint series in the early 1930s. A revision was issued in 1939: Replacement List of Fiction, Compiled by the A.L.A. Editorial Staff from Reports of Practice in Twelve Representative Libraries. Chicago, American Library Association, 1939.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Editions: The Rubaiyat, translated by Edward FitzGerald, went through an astounding number of editions and is found in many publishers’ series. This site is a repository for Rubaiyat editions, art, and other media related to this wonderful book of poetry. Sections include editions by artist, publisher, decade, full texts, and images of numerous editions.

The Brass Penguin site includes diverse web resources, including a page on vintage paperback books and paperback series books. Other Paperback Books Series includes an alphabetical listing of series and links to details about particular series (including scans and lists of titles).

The Times Digital Archive: A Full searchable collection of the London Times. Many publishers of UK series placed ads in the Times, and there are also articles about various series, authors, and publishers. Requires a subscription (typically through an academic institution).

What Books Shall I Read? F.K.W. Drury & W.E. Simnett (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933). One of the numerous books telling you how and what to read. This guide includes Appendix A: Series of American Publishers listing series available in the U.S. in 1933. Such sources helped build the list of series found on this site’s Publishers & Series page.

WorldCat: a catalog of millions of books from thousands of libraries worldwide; the ability to search by series if you have access to advanced search capabilities via an academic institution. The Expert Search allows you to search by series (se:) along with dozens of other fields. Once you find copies in a series, you can limit the search by date and see years and the number of book entries in WorldCat. This can help pin down the start and end of a series. A serious limitation is when books don’t include the series name on or in the book itself (a surprising number don’t, only indicating it on the dust jacket). Thus you can’t search for these series on WorldCat (as libraries didn’t preserve book jackets in most cases).