Today, Racheal and I passed by an antique dealer in a small farming community and decided to stop in. I’m glad we did, because we found a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Phantom ‘Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales”, a collection of short stories published in 1888. It was sitting alone on a shelf in perfect and bound condition for its years of subtle neglect.
There was no publication date on the copyright page- or elsewhere- other than the name A.L. Burt Publishing Company and an address of 52-8 Duane Street, New York.
Here’s a bit of historical background to put this story into perspective:
A. L. Burt Publishing Company was founded by Albert L. Burt in 1883 and began publishing at 105 John St. in New York City, enjoying several decades as a well-known reprint publisher. Burt came to be regarded as a pioneer in the field of printing the classics in attractive form at popular prices. His “Home Library” of several hundred titles had widespread sales for many years. Albert passed away on December 28, 1913 and the business was taken over by his three sons, Harry, Frederick, and Edward. It was later sold to Blue Ribbon Books in 1937; and Blue Ribbon Books was, in turn, purchased by Doubleday in 1939.
It must be noted that during their years in business A.L. Burt changed location several times.
Many of these Burt reprints are often confused as first editions by collectors who find the early copyright dates without checking for the all-important publisher imprints, and assessing dates of advertisements and publisher address changes.
For example, dating a book can be simplified by keeping in mind that A.L. Burt changed location as follows:
A.L. Burt 66 Reade Street 1889-1896
A.L. Burt 97 Reade Street 1896-1900
A.L. Burt 52-8 Duane Street 1900-1912
A.L. Burt 114-120 East. 23rd St 1912-1937
So, for $2.00 in quarters we possess a 100-year-old collection of Kipling’s classic shorts and a piece of publishing history. Not a bad Sunday afternoon!
Oh, by the way, the book begins thusly:
PREFACE
This is not exactly a book of downright ghost-stories as the cover makes believe. It is rather a collection of facts that never quite explained themselves. All that the collector is certain of is, that one man insisted upon dying because he believed himself to be haunted; another man either made up a wonderful lie and stuck to it, or visited a very strange place; while the third man was indubitably crucified by some person or persons unknown, and gave an extraordinary account of himself.
The peculiarity of ghost-stories is that they are never told first-hand. I have managed, with infinite trouble, to secure one exception to this rule. It is not a very good specimen, but you can credit it from beginning to end. The other three stories you must take on trust; as I did.
RUDYARD KIPLING
No, this was not a bad Sunday at all.
I did some further research and the editions of this Kipling title were printed by the A.L. Burt company between 1899 and 1900 and among the first to be produced upon moving to the Duane Street address.
That’s cool! 🙂
I purchased a copy of Treasure Island that has no dates on any pages and unfortunately only lists A. L. Burt Company Publishers, New York
There is an advertisement in the back for Burt’s Home Library listing all the books they have available for purchase, cloth binding and gilt top for $1.25 each. Do you know I might date my volume?
Is there an address listed anywhere in connection with A.L. Burt? If not, the only thing I can think of is to go trough the list of other books in the list you mentioned and track it that way.
My daughter’s book has that same type of advertisement and it has an address in smaller print at the bottom of the page.
I just found a copy of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins that was published by A.L. Burt. The advertisements in the back show the 66 Reade Street address. Thanks to your note, I now know that this book was published before 1900. I much appreciate your willingness to share the fruits of your research!
That’s great! 🙂 I love learning the history of these books.
Thank you for this post! My daughter has a copy of “Jessica’s First Prayer” published by A. L. Burt Publishers. I’m using it for a cataloging project for a history class. Your post was very helpful in giving me a time period for the book since it doesn’t have any copyright information. According to the address it was published between 1900-1912. It was given to her great, great grandmother by her mother in 1913 based on the note written on the front page.
That is awesome! ???? Glad I could help.