Methuen & Company, Ltd. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1912-1919
Size: 4.75″ x 7″
Methuen’s Shilling Library, like their Shilling Novels and Cheap Novels, were cheap novels printed and bound with a minimum investment by the publisher. There is significant overlap in the Shilling Library and Shilling Novels and they may basically be the same series with different names. Some of the Shilling Library titles also list the series as Methuen’s Shilling Books.
This copy of Conrad’s The Mirror of the Sea was published in January of 1917. Conrad’s titles published by Methuen are listed on the front jacket flap. The price on the books (on a sticker, covering the original price) is 2s. (up from 1s.). A summary of the book on the jacket spine helps sell the book to prospective buyers.
The back jacket lists titles seemingly both in the Shilling Novels and Shilling Library series. As said, these two series may be, more or less, the same.
Bindings in pale blue with black stamping.
A catalog in the front of the book lists titles in the series.
The list continues on the page facing the title page. The paper and binding are cheap.
The copyright page indicates the title’s printing history.
A catalog of Methuen’s books is in the back of this title. At the end, a brief mention of Methuen’s Shilling Series can be found – yet another name for these various series. A bit more research is needed to sort out the differences between all of Methuen’s cheap, early 20th century series.
