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John Wurtele Lovell Company
New York, 1878-1881

24 Bond Street in 1878, later 16 Astor Street; 14 Vesey Street 1882; acquired plates and stock of Munro Library in 1888; 142-150 Worth Street by 1891; absorbed by United States Book Company 1891 (DLB 49). Born in Montreal... In 1876 Lovell established the firm of Lovell, Adam & Company in New York City for the purpose of reprinting cheap editions of British books. His partner was G. Mercer Adam, a fellow Canadian.... In 1887 the partnership was dissolved and Lovell began to publish on his own.... Lovell started as a pirate with the intention of breaking the courtesy of the trade principle of the literary establishment.... In 1881 he reorganized his business, calling it John W. Lovell Company, and the following year he introduced the Lovell's Library, a series of paperbacks priced at ten, twenty, or thirty cents. Beginning as a weekly, the series grew until, by 1890, it had become a triweekly. Lovell issued his books either in cloth or in paper. Publishing seven million cheap books a year, he became known as Book-A-Day Lovell.... In 1890 Lovell's publishing activities culminated in the formation of the United States Book Company. Within three years, however, this firm went into bankruptcy and by 1900 Lovell had completely disappeared from the annals of publishing. He died in 1932. (Kurian). There is some further information in Schurman; see references. For an 1879 letter from Lovell to The Publisher's Weekly, "The Royalty vs. the Monopoly Scheme of Copyright," click here; for Raymond Howard Shove's summary of the "Combination", click here; for Lovell's 1890 announcement to the trade about his plan to create a monopoly for reprint publications, click here; for the decision in the 1896 suit brought by a successor firm, American Publishers Corporation, to recover rights to Munro's Seaside Library, click here. Additional information is available on the Major Publishers pages maintained by the Hyde Park Book Store.

Frontispiece used on several editions: "The last waltz was o'er."

1879 PTLA: John W. Lovell, 24 Bond St. (Supplement).

1880 PTLA: John Wurtele Lovell, 14 & 16 Astor Place. Lovell's Red Line Edition of the Poets. Without doubt the finest and most complete edition of the Poets ever issued in this country, at a new low price. The plates are new, beautiful clear type, the paper very good, and the binding the best and handsomest that could be designed. In 12mo volumes, illustrated, handsomely bound in cloth, black and gold, gilt edges... $1.25. [Both Lucile and Meredith].... The same, Standard Edition, 12mo. Cloth, black and gold... $1.00. [Lucile and Meredith].

Poetry is something to make us wiser and better, by continually revealing those types of beauty and truth which God has set in all men's souls.-Lowell. Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.-Shelley.

Lovell's Editions of the Poets. Red Line Editions. 12mo. size, full gilt side and back, gilt edges. Price, per volume... $1.25. These are. Without doubt, the finest editions of the Poets ever issued in this country at a low price. The plates are all new, beautiful clear type, the paper very good, and the binding the best and handsomest that could be designed. The list is already a large one, affording a wide assortment. In most cases the works will be found more complete than the Foreign edition, as, on account of the copyright on many of the Poems not having yet expired, the English publishers are prevented from printing all the poems of many of the best authors. In the case of still living authors, care will be taken to add any new poems that they may publish to each new edition issued. ... The above are also issued with plain edges, bound in cloth, price per volume, $1.00. [Both Lucile and Meredith offered].

Lucile. 1880. John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street. 120x188mm, 369p., Cover stamped "Illustrated" but no illustrations present. Red line pages. Blue cloth stamped black and gold, beveled edges, aeg. Glazed brown endsheets. Spine title shares rules of BAP LJW2; gold vase on spine is similar to (but different from) BAP LJW2. Same stamps appear on Worthington Co. edition dated 1883. S&EH: fly and frontispiece removed.

Poems. 1880. 14 & 16 Astor Place. 480p. Titlepage: Household Edition. Red line edition. Yellow cloth stamped gold and black (with gold vase and other plates as Lucile above), Glazed brown endsheets.

Arundel Edition of the Poets. These are very handsome editions, small 4to size, beautifully printed on fine paper, large type, bound in very handsome style... small 4to size, cloth, gilt, $1.50; full gilt, back and side, gilt edges, $2.00; full Morocco, gilt, in box, $4.00. [Both Meredith and Lucile]. The "Arundel Editions" are recommended as superior to any editions heretofore published in completeness of text, containing all of the writings of the various authors. The beauty of the printing and binding will commend them to all lovers of good books, and it is confidently expected that they will attain a very large sale.

----?. 1880, John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street. 120x188mm, 369p. Frontispiece and a few illustrations. Red line pages. Blue-green cloth stamped black and gold. Green glazed endsheets. Aeg. Sheets and binding design are same as an undated Crowell edition (Cr1), including "T.Y. Crowell" in a cartouche at the base of the spine. BAP LJW1: flyleaf inscribed December 25, 1881.

----, 1880. As LJW1 except red cloth. Hanover College.

Lovell's Standard Library. Under this heading Mr. Lovell proposes to publish from time to time the best Standard Works in Biography, Fiction, etc. The books will all be printed from new plates, large, clear type, on good paper, very handsomely bound, black and gold, the publisher's aim being to make them the best and cheapest in the market. They will be sold at the uniform price of $1.00 a volume. [Both Lucile and Meredith].

----, 1880. John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street, 120x190mm, 369p. Titlepage reads "Illustrated" but only frontispiece. Green cloth stamped black with gold surrounding "Lucile" on spine. Glazed olive green endsheets S&EH Ohio State University NL 0594604.

----. Blue cloth stamped black. Glazed blue endsheets. Rubber stamps of the University of San Diego Library. BAP LJW2: verse in pencil on front fly; University of Pennsylvania.

----. Red cloth. NL 0594604 [says 396p]. University of Washington.

----. Brown cloth. Pennsylvania State University.

----. 1880. NL 0594604 [says 396p]: Harvard; Ohio State University: foot of binding stamped "T.Y Crowell".

----, 1880. John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street,120x185mm, 369p. Frontispiece: "the Last Waltz Was Just O'er." Olive green cloth stamped black, spine title gold. Plain endsheets. S&EH.

----. 1880. Brown cloth with white and pink flowers, "Lucile" in a gothic face on spine and top board. Aeg. University of Illinois NL 0594604: rebacked saving covers and spine.

----, 1880. John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street. 120x188mm, 369p. Illustrations. Red line pages. Light brown cloth stamped black and gold, beveled edges, aeg. Glazed blue green endsheets. BAP LJW3: inscribed Christmas 1881.

----, 1880. John Wurtele Lovell, No. 24 Bond Street. 120x180mm, 369p. Redline pages; frontispiece portrait of Meredith but otherwise no illustrations. Semi limp boards covered in sized but unfinished linen cloth, the top board then hand-painted and title [stenciled?]. The covering cloth is glued over thin leather "frames" which have been toolded with a blind line. Aeg. Glazed light brown endsheets. S&EH

1881 PW 29 January: Red Line Editions as 1880.

PW 18 June: Lovell's Caxton Classics. A series of the best books in Poetry, History, Biography, Fiction, etc., designed to meet the wants of those who desire the works of the best authors in any inexpensive, but at the same time neat and durable, form. The following are all printed from clear type, on good paper, and handsomely bound. Price in cloth, black and gold, per volume, 75 cents. [Both Meredith and Lucile].

----. 14, 16, 18, & 20 Astor Place, 1881. 120x185mm, 369p. Light green cloth stamped black and gold, stamped "T.Y. Crowell" at foot of spine. Pale yellow endsheets. S&EH: inscription dated Christmas 1883. [Note: this is nowhere described as a Caxton Classic and it may be an Arundel Poet].

1881 PTLA: Red Line Editions as 1880. [Cut]. Lovell's Editions of the Poets. Plain Editions. As 1880. [Cut].

----. 1881. 14, 16, 18, & 20 Astor Place. 200mm, 369p. Red Line. University of Southern California: rebound.

The Arundel Poets. The editions of the poets used as presentation volumes in this country are made in England, where the copyright law prevents the republication of the editions giving the text as ascertained by the researches of scholars during the last fifty years. As a natural consequence, the text of these cheap editions differs widely from the text of any of the (hitherto) high priced editions current among scholars. / The publishers of the Arundel Poets feel confidence in claiming superiority for their editions over all others, for the following considerations: they are, in every case, complete, and are reprints from the best editions, accepted and used by the first scholars of to-day; they are printed from entirely new plates, upon which much additional expense has been incurred in special proof-reading, in order to secure a perfectly accurate text. Each volume is illustrated with numerous full-page engravings: the type is twice the usual size found in cheap editions; the paper is of excellent quality, and the binding is handsome and warranted to be of the very best manufacture. / The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith... 1 vol., 450 pages, square 8vo, cloth, $1.25. Ditto, cloth extra, gilt edges, $1.50. / Lucile. Beautifully illustrated. 1 vol, 400 pages, square 8vo, cloth, $1.25. Ditto, extra cloth, gilt edges, $1.50.

1883 PTLA: Lovell's Red Line Poets as 1880. Both Lucile and Meredith also offered in tree calf or full morocco antique, price $5.00 per volume.

Meredith, Owen (Robert Lord Lytton). The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (Robert Lord Lytton). Printed from new electrotype plates, handsomely illustrated. Red Line Edition. 1 vol, 12mo. Illustrated, cloth, gilt, gilt edges, $1.25. / Since the publication of his first work, Clytemnestry [sic] Meredith has steadily ascended in the scale of poetic rank. He has the spirit and feeling of the genuine poet improved by the judgement of the man of the world, and the condition of the scholar. No brighter or more charming verses have ever been written than some of those which make up Owen Meredith's volume. / Lucile. By Owen Meredith. Printed from new plates, large clear type. Red Line Edition. 1 vol., 12mo. Illustrated, cloth, gilt, gilt edges. $1.25.

1884 PTLA: Catalogue of Lovell's Library. Classified for more convenient reference as follows... by numbers... by authors... by titles and subjects.... / All the numbers of Lovell's Library are always in print. Dealers can be promptly supplied by the American News Company, New York, or any of its Branches. / [Lucile is #331, priced at .20].

1884-1885. Lovell's Library. PW 1 Mar, Weekly Record: Lovell's library, nos. 320 to 329. N.Y., John W. Lovell Co., 1884. ea. D[uodecimo?]. pap. ... 331 Lucile by Owen Meredith 20c.

[1876-84 American Catalog: Lovell's lib. 12o. '84. pap. 20c.]

----. 369p, 185mm. Library of Congress NL 0594615, on wrapper: Lovell's Library No. 331; copyright 18 August 1884; rear cover has advertisement for E. Crosby Co.'s "Brain and Nerve Food / Vitalized Phos-phites / Composed of the Nerve-Giving Principles of the Ox-Brain and Wheat-Germ."

1884: NL 0594615 PP N; University of Virginia, [1884] cover: Lovell's Library.

1886-1887 PTLA: as 1884. With additional "Catalogue of Cloth Bound Edition of Lovell's Library. Note. -- for the future, we will bind all new issues of "Lovell's Library" in cloth, charging 15 cents additional to retail price; 10 cent numbers will be bound two volumes in one." [Lucile is included].

1889 PTLA: as 1884. Munro's Library. Complete catalogue by author. The above library is now published by the Proprietors of Lovell's Library. Each number is issued in neat 12mo form, printed from large type, attractively bound.... Lucile... .20.

Known copies:

----. nd. John W. Lovell Company, 14 and 16 Vesey Street. 125x193mm, 369p. Titlepage reads "Illustrated" but only frontispiece present. Red line pages. Terra cotta cloth stamped black, gold; edges beveled. Aeg. Floral endsheets. BAP LJ1: undated inscription; San Diego State University.

----. Blue cloth. S&EH.

----. Light green cloth. BAP: August 1883 inscription.

----, nd. 14 and 16 Vesey Street. 130x200mm, 369p. Red line page. Yellow cloth. Stamped red and blue. Flowers within six circles. Floral endsheets. Brigham Young.

----, nd. 369p. Brown cloth: University of Michigan.

Meredith's Poetical Works

Lovell doubtlessly issued many editions of Meredith Poetical Works (includng Lucile), but we have not yet attempted to identify or collect them. The following editions, however, are known:

1880. 14 & 16 Astor Place. 125x185mm, 480p. Frontispiece portrait. Titlepage reads "Household Edition". Brown (somewhat plummy) cloth stamped black, gold spine titles. S&EH: undated flyleaf inscription. See similar Lucile binding above.

----. John W. Lovell Company, 142 to 150 Worth Street. 120x185mm, 480p. Red line edition. Padded plum leather stamped blind and gold. Aeg. Floral endsheets. S&EH: 1893 inscription.

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