aka/Library of Standard Authors
aka/Sonnenschein’s Library Edition of Standard Authors
aka/Cheap Library Edition of Standard Authors
Swan Sonnenschein & Co. (London, UK)
Series Dates: 1886-1911
Size: 8.75″ x 6″
Allen & Unwin (London, UK)
Series dates: 1911-1959
Size: 8.75″ x 6″
Updated 6/28/2024
The term “standard authors” refers to a range of important works and authors, accepted among intellectuals and expected in the libraries of an intelligent public. Who is included in the “standard authors” genre does vary quite a bit over time. Quite a few publishers issued series with some variation on “standard authors” in the 19th and 20th centuries. The books were usually of better than average quality, suitable for libraries and home use.
This entry for Allen and Unwin’s Standard Authors Library grew a bit complicated when I realized that the 13 titles in the 20th-century series were originally issued by the firm Swan Sonnenschein & Co. beginning around 1886. Swan Sonnenschein combined with George Allen and Co. in 1911 and the combined firm became Allen & Unwin (source).
To make things more complicated, publication years for individual books are confusing, likely due to reprints with earlier years left in the books, the sale of leftover Swan Sonnenschein series titles after 1911 by Allen and Unwin, and the varying series names before 1911. From 1886 to 1911 the series is called the Standard Authors Library, the Library of Standard Authors, Sonnenschein’s Library Edition of Standard Authors, and the Cheap Library Edition of Standard Authors.
In an attempt to sort out the complexities here, I’ve grouped the series into two eras. First is Swan Sonnenschein & Co. and their 1886-1911 series which reached 18 numbered series titles (many in multiple volumes) with two unnumbered series titles, for a total of 20 titles.
After 1911, the newly formed Allen & Unwin Co. sold 13 titles, some that seem to have included earlier years and even Swan Sonnenschein imprints in particular books. The series’ name was regularized to the Standard Authors Library in this 2nd era.
I can find no advertisements for Allen & Unwin’s 2nd-era Standard Authors Library series, but several (shown below) for the Swan Sonnenschein era.
Below is a listing of 18 titles in the series, from the English Catalog of Books, vol. IV, for January 1881 to December 1889, p. 705 (source).
Below, is a subset of titles advertised in the Journal of Education, Dec. 1, 1890, p. 644:
Below, from The Publishers’ Ciruclar, 1298, May 16, 1891, p. 496.
Below, from Index to the Periodical Literature of the World, Volume 2, 1892 (advertisement, beginning of book; source)
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A brief listing of the series under the 2nd era series name from The English Catalog of Books (1892), p. 122. |
Era 1 Swan Sonnenschein: 20 Titles: Titles variously issued under the series name of the Standard Authors Library, the Library of Standard Authors, Sonnenschein’s Library Edition of Standard Authors, and the Cheap Library Edition of Standard Authors. Titles listed as part of Sonnenschein’s Cheap Library Edition of Standard Authors in the English Catalog of Books (1889) from above.
1. Shakespeare’s Works (10 vol.), Alex. Dyce, ed.
2. W.H. Prescott’s Works (3 vol.), W.H. Prescott
3. History of the Conquest of Mexico, W.H. Prescott
4. History of the Conquest of Peru, W.H. Prescott
5. History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, W.H. Prescott
6. The Rise of the Dutch Republic, J.L. Motley
7. Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns (2 vol.), W.S. Douglas, ed.
8. Memoirs of the Count Grammont, Count Anthony Hamilton, Horace Walpole, trans.
9. Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XIV and the Regency (3 vol.), by the Duc Saint-Simon, Bayle St. John, trans.
10. Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (3 vol), Thomas Percy, H.B. Wheatley, ed.
11. Samuel Pepys and the World He Lived In, Henry B. Wheatley
12. Anecdotes of Painting in England (3 vol.), Horace Walpole, enlarged by J. Dallaway, revised by R.N. Wornum (SS SLESA 1888)
13. Life of Samuel Johnson (3 vols), James Boswell, Percy Fitzgerald ed.
14. The Historical Basis of Modern Europe, 1760-1815 by Archibald Weir
15. History of Ireland, by Dr. R. Hassencamp
16. Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, by Gilbert White
17. Short History of Art, by Francis C. Turner
18. Little Cyclopedia of Common Things, by Sir Geo. W. Cox
Additional Era 1 Titles:
#? Russia, Political and Social, L.A. Tikhomirov, translated by Edward B Aveling:1888 (source)
#? The Life of George Brummell, Esq., Commonly called Beau Brummell, by William Jesse: 1893
Era 2 Allen & Unwin: 13 Titles: The bold notes after the title and author indicate a title issued as part of the series, the indicated publisher (SS and AU), the series name in WorldCat (Standard Authors Library, the Library of Standard Authors, Sonnenschein’s Library Edition of Standard Authors, and the Cheap Library Edition of Standard Authors) and years of the publications. This era is complicated by the fact that titles in Allen & Unwin’s series were sometimes issued with the Swan Sonnenschein imprint, using variant series names, and with earlier (inaccurate) dates. For example, see the “1847” copy of the History of the Conquest of Peru below, which is probably the original, non-series publication year.
History of the Conquest of Peru, William Prescott, ed. John Foster Kirk: SS LSA 1847; AU SAL 1886, 1935, 1959
History of the Conquest of Mexico, William Prescott: AU SAL 1886, 1949, 1959
History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, William H. Prescott: SS CLESA 1886; AU SAL 1962
Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys (4 vol.), Samuel Pepys: SS LSA 1890; AU SAL 1924
Memoirs of the Count de Grammont: SS LSA 1890, 1900; AU SAL 1926
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, Gilbert White: SS LSA 1891, 1895; AU SAL 1920
Diaries and Letters of Madame D’Arblay (4 vol.), Fanny Burney & Charlotte Barrett: SS 1892, 1893
The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (2 vol.), ed. W. Moy Thomas SS LSA 1892, 1893
The Letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield (aka, Letters, with the “Characters”) (3 vol.): SS LSA 1893 (source); AU SAL 1926
The Life of Samuel Johnson (3 vol.): AU SAL 1924
Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XIV and the Regency (3 vol.), Duc Saint Simon: AU SAL 1926
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (3 vol.), Thomas Percy: AU SAL 1927
The Rise of the Dutch Republic (2 vol.), John Lothrop Motley: AU SAL 1929
This 1924 copy of the 3rd volume of Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson sports a common series jacket with book details restricted to the spine. The jacket cover contains an advertisement for the series and lists the series titles (sans the Memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon, which was first issued two years later). The price (10s 6d net) is on the spine. The front jacket flap is blank.
The rear of the jacket advertises various Allen & Unwin books by Maeterlinck.
Blue cloth binding with gold typography:
Blank end-papers.
The half-title page:
The title page:
A printing history of this volume from 1888 to this 1924 edition.
At the end of the book, the Allen & Unwin colophon and details about the publisher:
This 1927 edition of Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (vol. 2 of 3) has a redesigned dust jacket. The series name is on the front of the jacket, but the list of titles is narrowed from 11 to 10 (removing the Reliques). The price is 15s, net. “Library Editions at Popular Prices.”
The bookbinding and design is similar to the copy of The Life of Johnson above.
Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Peru is one of the first and last titles printed in the series. This 1959 copy has a bland common jacket design. The title and publisher are indicated on the jacket spine. The series name is included on the bottom of the front of the jacket. A note on the front jacket flap indicates that additional titles in the series are indicated on the back of the jacket. A price of 25s is also on the front jacket flap.
As of 1959, three titles are listed in the series, including Prescott’s Peru, Mexico, Motley’s Dutch Republic, and Pepys Diary. There are no copies of the Motley and Pepys titles besides those issued in 1929 and 1924 (respectively) in WorldCat. Another title, a translation, is listed on the jacket: Descola’s The Conquistadors. This title does not seem to be in the series, nor is there a copy on WorldCat.
Solid blue cloth bindings with gold typography and a series colophon debossed on the front cover:
The half-title page with the series name:
The three titles (besides Peru) in the series as of 1959 are listed and face the title page. “New Revised Edition Edited by John Foster Kirk” is indicated above the imprint. This “new revised edition” seems to have been the one first published in the series in 1886.
If the copyright page is to be believed, there were 21 printings of this title before this 1959 edition. If so, many of these don’t show up in WorldCat. “Printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Aberdeen”
An Allen & Unwin colophon on the next to last page in the book is followed by the firm’s international offices.
Two Allen & Unwin titles not in the series are advertised on the last page of the book, as is Prescott’s Mexico.
