Saunder's Old Book Store

I was going to title, or even subtitle, this one, "Turkey at the Berlin Congress." The image on this card caught my attention.

I knew it was a bookseller's trade card, but I couldn't make the curious connection to a platter of turkey and the Berlin Congress, whatever that was. And so I had to have the card. And then a history lesson.





For a quick introduction, I went to the Wikipedia page for Berlin Congress, which opens with this:
The Congress of Berlin (13 June - 13 July 1878) was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans.
The New World Encyclopedia contributes this, which helps to understand Turkey on a platter:
Up until Berlin, Turkey had been viewed as a European power. Stripped of almost all European territory, it was no longer viewed as part of Europe.
"I'm not sure what all that had to do with a Philadelphia bookseller, but the cartoon on the trade card at least helped me date the card to 1878. I assume 1878 because of the timeliness of the event and because it wouldn't have relevance for later years. I have found other political cartoons about Turkey at the Berlin Congress, so I also assume the Berlin Congress was a big deal in the US to warrant a cartoon in local papers, not to mention a bookseller's trade card.

I know that Saunder's was in Philadelphia because of the address on the card. A quick consultation with a map shows the streets are consistent with the street address on the card.

What I'm curious about is if Saunder's printed a new batch of trade cards whenever world events seemed significant enough to warrant a new cartoon to help sell a few books.

That they needed fresh stock is evident by the dual-sided pleas for books. They purchased libraries and small collections and books they claimed their owners had no interest in. "You don't really want those old books, do you?"

I make one last assumption here that Saunder's enjoyed good sales (to support their buying habit) and that they enjoyed some longevity. But the scarcity of information on the firm makes it difficult to put together a decent bio on the company.

But if a picture is worth a thousand words, then maybe some of those words would describe the creativity Saunder's had for attracting customers and the fact that a sense of humor was part of the firm's culture. Today they would have gone broke printing new cards to keep up with all the political lampooning that's part of our culture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to open a book

Image
Cataloging books the other day, I came across an 1890s multivolume set called Messages and Papers of the Presidents . Inside one of the volumes was a slip of printed paper with a bookbinder's message: How to Open a Book . The set was published by the Government Printing Office, so they are the likely source of this piece of paper, which reprints a passage from a publication titled, Modern Bookbinding . No other bibliographical detail is included for that title, but I have found a magazine from that era, Modern Bookbinding and Their Designers . No clue, though, as to the author of this particular piece. You might wonder (I did) why there would be a need for instructions to open a book. And if you put those instructions inside the book, doesn't that defeat the purpose somewhat? Opening a book is not as easy as you might think. At least if you read these instructions and try to follow them. Here's the gist of it in the opening run-on sentence: Hold the book with its back on a
Read more

A Bookaholic and Bibliophile in Ukraine

Image
A favorite piece in my Bibliophemera collection is an unused postcard illustrated by Ukrainian artists Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv. It features two interesting, whimsical creatures embracing each other while maintaining engagement with their books. Cat-like and bird-like, one in high heels and one barefoot, one with a long tail and prominent ears and one with tail feathers and no visible ears, both with beaks, and both with books. They can’t put their books down even in this intimate moment. Appropriately, they are labeled Bookaholic and Bibliophile. Might they even be an imaginative rendering of the artists themselves? Romana and Andriy were both born in Lviv, Ukraine in 1984 and continue to live and work there. The illustration on the postcard is a fitting depiction of their artistic lives where books and their illustrations comprise their passion for illustration, book design, and writing. Together, they started Art Studio Agrafka in Lviv where they have produced award-win
Read more

Henry Altemus Company - Philadelphia

Image
Having recently corresponded with Frank DeFreitas over at Antiquarian Holographica about certain historical sites in Philadelphia, I guess the Philly force was with me yesterday when I was out scouting for books. I found a decent copy of The Story of Young Benjamin Franklin , by Wayne Whipple (Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, 1916). Whipple wrote a series of children's books portraying famous Americans such as Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin. He also wrote about American icons such as the Liberty Bell and the American Flag. I might have passed on the Franklin book if not for what was tucked inside as a bookmark--a contemporary brochure from the publisher, Henry Altemus. There's a little character at the top of the first page, standing next to a row of books and with a book in hand, he exclaims, An Altemus book and nothing to do until tomorrow. Oh, joy! The brochure opens up into a front-and-back listing for Altemus' 20th Century Books for Boys and Girls. One side lis
Read more