Longmans, Green and Co. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1951-1960 (some reprints to 1974)
Size: 5″ x 7.5″
Longmans published the Men and Books Series of short biographies mostly in 1951 to 1955 with a few stray reprints later. No women in this series! Titles in the series were previously unpublished, so not technically a reprint series. The book and jacket design are similar to Zodiac Books, the Zodiac Press series, the Novel Library, Cassell’s Pocket Library, etc.
The decorative patterns on the jackets vary from title to title. The front jacket flap summarizes the book, in this case, J.D Jump’s Matthew Arnold (first published in the series in 1955). The price is 12/- on a sticker over the original price. The series name is included at the top of the jacket spine.
The decorative pattern continues to the back of the jacket. The titles available in the series are listed on the rear flap. A review of WorldCat reveals this to most likely be the complete list of titles published in the series. A note on the author of the Arnold title is included on the bottom of the jacket flap.
The pattern on the jacket is repeated on the boards of the bookbinding. The series title is included on the top of the book’s spine.
The half-title page:
The title page, in red and black:
Copyright and printing information:
