American Trade Bindings and Beyond

We are two catalogers sharing fun finds as we catalog. Mostly this will be about American Trade Bindings and the artists behind them, but we'll have a few other things sprinkled in along the way

Helpful links

Here’s a list of resources we find the most helpful when doing our binding research and other cataloging research too. This includes binding designers, publishers, date estimation, series information, etc…:

  • 19th century American children’s book trade directory by the American Antiquarian Society
  • Amy Sacker website by Mark Schumacher
  • Art of American book covers, 1875-1930 by Richard Minsky (UNCG catalog)
  • Art of American book covers blog by Richard Minsky
  • Artists of the book in Boston, 1890-1910 by Nancy Finlay (UNCG catalog)
  • Book cover art of Thomas Watson Ball by Richard Minksy (UNCG catalog)
  • Bruce Rogers : designer of books by Frederic Warde and Irwin Haas (UNCG catalog)
  • Collectible books: some new paths edited by Jean Peters. Specifically the chapter: American trade bindings and their designers, 1880-1915 written by Charles Gullans and John Espey. (UNCG catalog)
  • Decorative cloth in America : publisher’s bindings, 1840-1910 by Sue Allen and Charles B. Gullans (UNCG catalog)
  • Decorative cover website from the New York Society Library
  • Girls series books : a checklist of titles published 1840-1991 by the University of Minnesota
  • Google Books especially to search Publisher’s Weekly. Publisher’s Weekly is full of helpful information. A lot of times they’ll have short bios on companies and the people responsible for the companies. Plus, the detailed ads are hard to beat.
  • History of book publishing in the United States by John William Tebbel (UNCG catalog)
  • History of Stone & Kimball and Herbert S. Stone & Co. : with a bibliography of their publications, 1893-1905 by Sidney Kramer (UNCG catalog)
  • Internet Archive especially to compare our copy to other digitize copies. This also has some Publisher’s Weekly’s digitized and the Dial and Writer and all those good writing publications.
  • Literary annuals and gift books : a bibliography, 1823-1903 by Frederick W. Faxon (UNCG catalog)
  • Lucile project website by Sidney Huttner
  • Margaret Armstrong and American trade bindings : with a checklist of her designed bindings and covers by Charles B. Gullans and John J. Espey (UNCG catalog)
  • Merle Johnson’s American first editions by Merie De Vore Johnson (UNCG catalog)
  • New York Times online – we have a subscription through Proquest dating back to 1851. Check with your local library to see if they have access. This is a great resource for advertisements. (UNCG catalog)
  • PBO website by the University of Alabama
  • RBMS controlled vocabulary by the American Library Association (maintained by Elspeth Healey)
  • Sarah Wyman Whitman Flickr page by the Boston Public Library
  • The proper decoration of book covers : the life and work of Alice C. Morse by Mindell Dubansky (UNCG catalog)

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It’s gardening season! How fun is this spiritualist newspaper?! I love saving stuff like this for the end of the week so I have a nice Friday pick me up. I highlighted my two favorite tips from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission when it comes to building and putting up bird houses. That second part of the last tip would be fighting words to some people 😂 I love a good book that has even better hidden treasures hidden inside. Normally, when we get books that have been inscribed, people tended to inscribe them in the front of the book. This particular book has them scattered throughout, so it’s like a treasure hunt! Abbie Mitchell was an opera singer who performed in Porgy and Bess in 1935. J. Rosamund Johnson was a composer and singer and the brother of the author of the book he inscribed. Alberto Mayo and Joseph James would later marry. Joseph sang and Alberto accompanied him on the piano. Joseph eventually became the first president of the NAACP in San Francisco. Joesph was also in Porgy and Bess and was in the chorus of the film Green Pastures. I couldn’t find anything about Alberta besides that she played the piano. William L. Patterson was a political activist and head of the International Labor Defense. Louise Thompson Patterson was a social activist and college professor. She and William Patterson were married. I really want to know if people really rolled their eyes around in salt or boric acid… Todays fun find: an ad in front of a book from the Daily News about placing want ads. Apparently, it must’ve been much easier to adopt a child back then than it is today. On this edition of things found in books (or in this case a pamphlet), a coupon and advertisement for evaporated milk. These two were tucked into a pamphlet published in 1932. Happy New Year! Starting this brand new year off on the right foot by cataloging this beauty from 1688! I love it when I find little references to popular culture. The publisher referenced the Barnum Museum (which opened in Philadelphia in 1849) to help locate them on the cover of this score. The museum ended up burning down in 1851. The article about the fire in the New York Times says that the book and music stores were able to save most of their items. Edward L. Walker was mentioned in the article, so they were still there at the time of the fire.
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