NORTH AMERICAN PUBLISHERS

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HARPERS

In America, Harpers, New York, were Collins's main publishers issuing titles in a variety of formats.

HARPER'S ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS

The first book editions of eight serialisations from Harper’s Weekly were printed in double columns, using the same type and illustrations.  They were all issued in paper wrappers and some simultaneously in cloth.  Antonina and The New Magdalen, using the same format, were numbered as part of Harper’s Library of Select Novels.  The dates are those of first issue.

Antonina, 1850, (No. 141), only in tan paper wrappers, re-issued in 1864; The Woman in White, 1860; No Name, 1863; Armadale, 1866; The Moonstone, 1868; Man and Wife, 1870; Poor Miss Finch, 1872; The New Magdalen, 1873, (No. 395), only in paper wrappers; The Law and the Lady, 1875, only in paper wrappers; The Two Destinies, 1876.  

 

The Law and the Lady - Harper's edition in wrappers.

Illustrated edition from Harper's Weekly

Illustrated Library edition

Harper's Half-Hour Series

The Franklin Square Library

 

HARPER’S ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY EDITION

The most complete edition with seventeen titles in 12mo green cloth.  This series was issued to coincide with Collins’s reading tour of North America and contains a facsimile inscription in Collins’s hand, ‘I gratefully dedicate this collected edition of my works, to the American People’.  The books were first issued from 1873 at $1.50.  Later issues from about 1874 were priced at $1.25 and the edition was reissued until early in the twentieth century.  About 1893 Harper’s issued titles in the Moonstone Edition in dark blue cloth.

After Dark, and Other Stories; Antonina; Armadale; Basil; Hide and Seek; "I Say No"; Man and Wife; My Miscellanies; No Name; Poor Miss Finch; The Dead Secret; The Law and the Lady; The Moonstone; The New Magdalen; The Queen of Hearts; The Two Destinies; The Woman in White.  

 

HARPER'S HANDY SERIES

The Ghost's Touch and Other Stories, 1885, No. 30; The Evil Genius, [1886], No. 72, first book publication; The Guilty River, 1886, No. 105.

 

HARPER'S HALF HOUR SERIES

Percy and the Prophet, 1877, No. 25, first separate edition; My Lady's Money, 1878, No. 45, first separate edition,

 

FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY

A cheap series started in 1878 to compete with pirated editions from other publishers.  Harper’s paid an honorarium to British authors and generally did not use the series for new books.   Man and Wife, 1879, No 38, in paper wrappers at 15 cents; “I Say No!”, 1884, No. 385 at 20 cents.

 

OTHER NORTH AMERICAN PUBLISHERS

Other legitimate US publishers included D. Appleton & Co. (New York, Basil, 1853, and Blind Love, 1890); Miller & Curtis (New York, The Dead Secret, 1857); and William Gill (Boston, The Frozen Deep, 1874, and Alicia Warlock and other Stories, 1875).  In Toronto, works were issued by Hunter, Rose and Company (The New Magdalen, 1873, Readings in America, 1874, The Dead Alive, 1874, The Law and the Lady, 1875 and The Two Destinies, 1876); Rose-Belford Publishing Company (The Haunted Hotel, 1878, and The Fallen Leaves, 1879); and Rose Publishing Company (The Black Robe, 1881).

 

PIRATED EDITIONS

Many of Collins's titles were issued in pirated, unauthorised editions the most comprehensive of which were the Seaside Library (Munro, New York) and T. B. Peterson (Philadelphia).  The many other inter-related pirates included Belford, Clarke, the Federal Book Company, the International Book Company, J. W. Lovell and F. M. Lupton.

 

My Lady's Money in Munro's Library of Popular Novels. The Black Robe from Belford, Clarke of Chicago. The Dead Secret from Peterson's of Philadelphia. Heart and Science in Lovell's Library.
George Munro of New York Belford, Clarke of Chicago Peterson's of Philadelphia Lovell's Library of New York

 

 COLLIER

Peter Fenelon Collier, New York, published a thirty volume edition in 1900.  This is also not complete since it omits The Guilty River, Mr Wray’s Cash-Box and the non-fiction but is the most comprehensive of the collected editions.

Vol. I - The Woman in White, part one, 12 Illustrations, 575 pages 
Vol. II - The Woman in White, part two and short stories: The Dead Alive, The Fatal Cradle, Fatal Fortune, Blow up with the Brig , 5 Illustrations, 558 pages
Vol. III - Man and Wife, part one, 12 Illustrations, 577 pages

Vol. IV - Man and Wife, part two and short stories: Miss or Mrs.?, The Frozen Deep, 5 Illustrations, 614 pages
Vol. V - The Law and the Lady, 7 Illustrations, 559 pages

Vol. VI - The Moonstone, part one, 15 Illustrations, 580 pages
Vol. VII - The Moonstone, part two and The New Magdalen, 11 Illustrations, 602 pages
Vol. VIII - Armadale, part one, 8 Illustrations, 579 pages
Vol. IX - Armadale, part two, 4 Illustrations, 575 pages
Vol. X - Basil and Little Novels: Mrs. Zant and the Ghost, Miss Morris and the Stranger, Mr. Lismore and the Widow, 9 Illustrations, 576 pages

Vol. XI - Hide and Seek, 9 Illustrations, 624 pages
Vol. XII - No Name, part one, 2 Illustrations, 576 pages
Vol. XIII - No name, part two and Little Novels: Mr. Cosway and the Landlady, Miss Mina and the Groom, 2 Illustrations, 576 pages 
Vol. XIV - The Queen of Hearts and Little Novels: Mr. Lepel and the Housekeeper, with frontispiece, 608 pages
Vol. XV - Poor Miss Finch, 12 Illustrations, 656 pages
Vol. XVI - The Dead Secret and Little Novels, with frontispiece, 590 pages
Vol. XVII - Antonina or The Fall of Rome, with frontispiece, 656 pages
Vol. XVIII - The Two Destines, a novel and Little Novels: Mr. Medhurst and the Princess, Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman, Mr. Captain and the Nymph, Mr. Marmaduke and the Minister, Mr. Percy and the Prophet, no frontispiece or illustrations
Vol. XIX - After Dark, 4 Illustrations, 544 pages
Vol. XX - My Miscellanies, no Illustrations, 540 pages
Vol. XXI - The Fallen Leaves, no Illustrations, 525 pages
Vol. XXII - The Haunted Hotel
Vol. XXIII - The Black Robe, no Illustrations, 448 pages
Vol. XXIV - The Evil Genius, A Domestic Story, no Illustrations, 464 pages
Vol. XXV - Heart and Science, a Story of the Present Time, no Illustrations
Vol. XXVI - The Legacy of Cain, a Novel, no Illustrations, 480 pages
Vol. XXVII - Jezebel's Daughter, no Illustrations, 416 pages
Vol. XXVIII - Blind Love.
Vol. XXIX - I Say No, no Illustrations, 512 pages
Vol. XXX -A Rogue's Life, From His Birth to His Marriage, and Little Novels: Miss Dulane and my Lord, Mr. Policeman and the Cook, no Illustrations, 320 pages

 

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