University Publishing Co. (Lincoln, NE, US)
Series dates: 1923-1935
Size: 4.75″ x 7″
aka/ University Classics for High Schools, Colleges, Universities
Updated 3/12/2025
The University Publishing Company of Lincoln, Nebraska was in business from about 1898 to 1962, publishing educational books and materials. Their University Classics series was published from 1923-1935, with about 16 documented titles. All are canonical classics, edited and including introductions, explanatory notes, and questions for study.
An announcement in one of the early titles (1924) explains the goals and content of the series, including the first eight titles:
An advertisement for the series, from The School Executive, Volume 43, 1923 (full page advertisements at end of volume):
A common jacket design indicates the title, author, editor, and series. This title is dated 1924, one of the initial titles in the series.
The back of the jacket advertises four of the titles in the series:
Bindings are made of sturdy cloth with black stamped text and decorations.
A list of 16 titles published by University Publishing Co. in their University Classics series is below, organized by year. There are reprints (not noted here) of some titles. The entries in WorldCat often include a descriptor like “Drama” or “Fiction” or “Book” followed by a roman numeral. These may be some kind of series numbering, by sub-category. They range from 13 to 25 and there are repeated numbers. Given I can only find 16 titles, it’s possible that a much larger series with sub-categories was planned. Or, I may not have found all the series titles in all the normal places I search (WorldCat, Google, Google Books, used book sites).
1923
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare; J.W. Searson, ed. (Drama XXIV)
The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. J.W. Searson, ed.
1924
Julius Caesar, by Shakespeare. J.W. Searson, ed.
Poems and Tales, by Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Paxton Simmons, ed. (Fiction XX)
Selected Poems of Wordsworth and Arnold’s Essay on Wordsworth. Virgil L Jones, Mark L Reed, eds. (Book XIII)
Silas Mariner, by George Eliot. Marian Evans, ed.
1925
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare. Raymond Woodbury Pence, ed. (Drama XXI)
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. (Book XXVI)
The Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Raymond Woodbury Pence, ed. (Fiction XXV)
Selected Poems of Browning. Joseph Paxton Simmons, ed. (Poetry XXIV)
1926
The Idylls of the King, by Alfred Tennyson (??)
Milton’s Minor Poems. Arthur Lee, ed. (Book XXI)
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. J.W. Searson, ed.
1928
Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott. M. Clifford Harrison, ed.
1935
As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. David Jackson Savage, ed. (Drama XVIII)
The Lady of the Lake, by Walter Scott. J.W. Searson, ed (©1923, Book XXI)
In 1939 Appleby & Company of Greenwich, CT published about 15-20 titles in both paper and hardbound versions. Some were issued as a set in a box. This iteration of the University Classics does not seem to have been reprinted after the initial titles in 1939.
The University Classics series name was reused a third time for a series published by Packard and Company of Chicago, IL, between 1941 and 1947. The series was eventually co-published and eventually taken over by the publisher Hendricks House, which was itself acquired by Farrar Straus. For more information see the entry for Packard’s University Classics
