PUBLISHER : Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1878-1880

ABOUT :
Emerged from J.R. Osgood & Company (1871-1878); as New York branch of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. moved from Astor Place to 11 East 17th Street after 1880 (DLB 49). In 1880, the Henry Houghton-James Osgood partnership dissolved. Osgood conceded to Houghton rights to many books that went back to Ticknor & Fields and created a second James R. Osgood & Company, while Houghton partnered with George Mifflin to establish Houghton, Mifflin & Co., continuing to publish many, if not all, the titles acquired from Houghton, Osgood & Co.

LUCILE’s ISSUED BY Houghton, Osgood & Co.:

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The array of series in which Lucile and Meredith's Poetical Works, with binding variants, in the 1879 catalogue Houghton, Osgood & Co. submitted to Publishers' Trade List Annual. The partnership was formed too late in 1878 and ended too early in 1880 to submit catalogues in those years. Plates for all of the editions came from Osgood.

Editions of Lucile are inventoried first, with editions of Meredith's Poetical Works following.

Blue & Gold Edition. 32mo, 90x145mm, 352p. Imprint reads "Houghton, Osgood and Company, The Riverside Press". Blue cloth stamped blind, gold title and cartouche on spine unless noted. All copies examined have all edges gilt, brown glazed endsheets, and "Houghton, Osgood & Co." at foot of spine.
1878-1879 PTLA: [cloth], 32mo, $1.25; half calf $2.50; morocco $3.00.

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Cabinet Edition. 16mo, 105x170mm, 352p. Spine: "OWEN MEREDITH'S / POEMS" with "LUCILE" near center, "Houghton, Osgood & Co." at foot. Gold ovals-at-right-angles title stamp on top board, repeated blind on lower board. Top edge gilt. Brown glazed endsheets.
1878-1879 PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $1.50; half calf $3.00; morocco $4.00.

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Diamond Edition. 24mo, 100x145mm, 251p. Verso titlepage: University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. Binding stamped black with "DIAMOND EDITION" in small diamond at top of binding, Osgood device at bottom, floral work around author and title. Author's name on spine in gold panel. Plain endsheets.
1878 PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; leatherette $1.75; half calf $2.25; morocco $3.00; tree calf $3.50.
1879 PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; half calf $2.25; morocco $3.00; tree calf $3.50
----. Cloth color not verified: Library of Congress NL 0594597; Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

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Red Line Edition. 125x175mm, 251p. 8 leaves of plates. Verso titlepage: University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Cambridge. p251: Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Cover cartouche of gold stamped shield set in a group of three hemispheres, the top one surmounted by floral ornament, repeated blind on lower board; blind rules around edges. Spine gilt. Beveled edges, aeg. Blue glazed endsheets.
1878 PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; leatherette $4.50; half calf $5.00; morocco $7.00; tree-calf $7.00.
1879 PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $2.50; half calf $4.00; morocco $6.00; tree-calf $6.00.
----. Terra cotta cloth. BAP HO.5; Cloth color not confirmed: University of Pennsylvania.
----. Verso titlepage: University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. Terra cotta cloth. Black glazed endsheets. BAP HO1: inscribed Christmas 1880; S&EH: inscribed Oct 19, 1881.

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New Illustrated Paper Edition. Lucile, and Other Poems. 130x240mm, 111p. in double columns. Frontispiece portrait, 16 illustrations. p111: Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.
1878-1879 PTLA: Lucile, and other Poems. Illustrated, 8vo, paper, $.50.
1879. Rebound: University of Illinois NL 0594596.

George DuMaurier Illustrated 8vo Edition. 147x219mm, 261p. Binding is full length profile of Lucile stamped gold; beveled edges; aeg. Brown glazed endsheets. Frontispiece portrait of Meredith: "Baron Legrange photo/J. Brown sculp."
1878-1879 PTLA: New Edition, 24 illustrations, full gilt, 8vo, $5.00; morocco $10.00; tree calf $10.00.
1880. ----. First plate opposite first page of text (rather than frontispiece). S&EH.
----. Color of cloth not verified: University of North Carolina NL 0594603; Columbia (microfilm).
----. Reported copies, edition not verified: ?1880: NL 0594603 University of Virginia; Cleveland Public: rebound; Princeton: missing; University of Texas.

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Meredith's Poems

Blue & Gold Edition.
1878-1879 PTLA: 2 vols, 32mo. [cloth] $2.50; half calf $5.00; morocco $6.00.

Cabinet Edition.
1878-1879 PTLA: 2 vols, 16mo. [cloth] $3.00; half calf $6.00; morocco $8.00.

Household Edition.
1878-1879 PTLA: [New Household Edition]. Illustrated, 12mo. [cloth] $2.00; leatherette $3.00; half calf $4.00; morocco $5.00; tree calf $5.00.

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Illustrated Library Edition.
1878 PTLA: Portrait and 32 illustrations, 8vo. Cloth, full gilt $5.00; half calf $8.00; morocco $10.00; tree calf $10.00.
1879 PTLA: Portrait and 32 illustrations, 8vo. Cloth, full gilt $4.00; half calf $7.00; morocco $9.00; tree calf $9.00.

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Last revised: 9 January 2022