PUBLISHER: JAMES R. OSGOOD & COMPANY, Boston, 1871-1878

ABOUT: Merged 1878 with Hurd and Houghton to form Houghton, Osgood; dissolved in 1880, at which point Osgood formed a second James R. Osgood & Company. Additional information can be found at Wikipedia and in Carl J. Weber The Rise and Fall of James Ripley Osgood. (Waterville, ME: Colby College, 1959). See also Tebbel BC for a succinct accout of the merger which produced Hougton Osgood and this firm's dissolution, pages 119-120.

LUCILE’s ISSUED BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & COMPANY :
(For Osgood imprints1880-1885, see the second James R. Osgood & Company).

Editions of Meredith's Poems are described following the inventory of Luciles.

Luciles

Blue & Gold Edition. 32mo, 90x145mm, 352p. Imprint reads "..., late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co." Verso titlepage: Author's Edition / Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Printers to the University. Page 352: Cambridge: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Blue cloth stamped blind, gold title and cartouche on spine unless noted. All copies examined have all edges gilt, brown glazed endsheets, and "James R. Osgood & Co." at foot of spine. Priced at $1.50 in 1874 Fables in Song list. [1876 American Catalogue. (Blue and gold ed.) 32o. $1.25; hf.cf., $2.50; mor., $3.]
1871. 22nd printing: 518 copies May 24; 23rd printing: 500 copies November 1 [with 1872 title page date?].
1872. 24th printing: 500 copies January 29; 25th printing: 1510 copies July 15.
----. Rebound: University of Illinois NL 0594591.
----. Details not verified: Harvard NL 0594591.
1873. 26th printing: 1032 copies April 5. PTLA: Blue and Gold, 32mo, $1.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50.
----. William & Mary.
1874. 27th printing: 508 copies February 18; 28th printing: 1016 copies September 21. PTLA: Blue and Gold, 32mo, $1.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50.
1875. 29th printing: 1014 copies March 25. PTLA: Blue and Gold, 32mo, $1.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50.
1876. 30th printing: 500 copies August 23. PTLA: Blue and Gold, 32mo, $1.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50.
1877. 31st printing: 500 copies May 23; 32nd printing: 280 copies December 27. PTLA: Blue and Gold, 32mo, $1.25; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.00, half calf $2.50.

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Cabinet Edition. 16mo, 105x170mm, 352p. Verso titlepage: Author's Edition; Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow, and Company, Printers to the University. Page 352: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Spine: "OWEN MEREDITH'S / POEMS" with "LUCILE" near center, "James R. 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. Priced at $2.00 in 1874 Fables in Song list. [1876 American Catalogue: (Cabinet ed.) 16o., $1.50; hf.cf. $3; mor., $4.]
1871. 9th printing: 518 copies May 17; 10th printing: 280 copies August 25.
1872. 11th printing: 500 copies June 22; 12th printing: 512 copies July 24.
1873. 13th printing: 1000 copies August 23. PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $2.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $4.50, half calf $3.25.
1874. 14th printing: 804 copies October 28. PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $2.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $4.50, half calf $3.25.
1875. 15th printing: 508 copies September 17. PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $2.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $4.50, half calf $3.25.
1876 PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $2.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $4.50, half calf $3.25.
1877. 16th printing: 500 copies March 29; 17 printing: 450 copies September 13. PTLA: Cabinet, 16mo, $1.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $4.00, half calf $3.00.

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Diamond Edition. 24mo, 100x143mm, 251p. Imprint reads "... late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co." Verso titlepage: University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Cambridge. p251: Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Top board: DIAMOND EDITION inside embellished diamond. James R. Osgood device at foot of spine. Glazed brown endsheets. Priced at $1.00 in 1874 Fables in Song list. 1876 American Catalogue: (Diamond ed.) 18o. $1; hf.cf. $2.25; mor., $3. --8o. $5; mor., $10.

1872. 4th printing: 2038 copies August 23.
----. University of Chicago: green cloth; NYPL NL 0594591: purple cloth; Stanford: cloth color not verified.
1873. 5th printing: 2260 copies March 4; 6th printing: 2030 copies September 4. PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50.
1874. 7th printing: 1520 copies July 31; 8th printing: 1012 copies November 25. PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50; tree calf $3.50.
1875. 9th printing: 1020 copies June 24; 10th printing: 2046 copies August 16. PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50; tree calf $3.50.
1876. 11th printing: 1500 copies September 25; 12th printing: 1000 copies December 13. PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.50, half calf $2.50; tree calf $3.50.
1877. 13th printing: 1000 copies February 13; 14th printing: 1000 copies June 20; 15th printing: 2000 copies September 4. PTLA: Diamond, $1.00; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $3.00, half calf $2.25. Leatherette $1.75. Also offered with Longfellow, Tennyson, and Whittier, 4 vols. boxed $7.00.
1878. 16th printing: 1000 copies January 31. [no PTLA catalog].

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1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876 printings

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1877 printings

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1878 printings

Red Line Edition. 125x170mm, 251p. 8 leaves of plates. Verso of titlepage: University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Cambridge. p251: 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. Brown glazed endsheets. Described as "Full gilt" and priced at $3.50 in 1874 Fables in Song list. 1876 American Catalogue: (Red-line ed.) ill. sm 4o., $3.50; hf. cf., $5; mor., $7.

1871. 2nd printing: 520 copies May 8; 3rd printing: 970 copies December 13 [with 1872 title page?]. Ad at rear of BAP copy lists The Red-Line Editions, Lucile in cloth at $3.50; antique morocco $7.00; half calf $5.00. BAP.
1872. 4th printing: 1280 copies August 28.
1873. 5th printing: 2018 copies August 12. PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $7.00, half calf $5.00.
1874. 6th printing: 514 copies November 21 [with 1875 titlepage date?]. PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $7.00, half calf $5.00; tree calf $7.00.
----. BAP O3a; University of Virginia: plum cloth; Duke: half leather; UCLA: rebound; Columbia (Brander Matthews copy): microfilmed.
1875. 7th printing: 1016 copies October 8. PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $7.00, half calf $5.00; tree calf $7.00.
1876. 8th printing: 1000 copies October 16. PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $7.00, half calf $5.00; tree calf $7.00.
1877. 9th printing: 750 copies October 8. PTLA: Red-Line, 8 illustrations, full gilt, small 4to, $3.50; also offered in extra bindings: antique morocco $7.00, half calf $5.00. Leatherette $.50; also offered with Longfellow, Tennyson and Whittier, 4 vols. boxed, $18.00.
1878. [No PTLA catalog].

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Illustrated 8vo Edition: 147x219mm, 261p. English sheets: verso of halftitle and page [262] read: London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor, Printers, Bread Street Hill. 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." Many copies have binder's ticket of Westleys & Co., London, on rear pastedown. 24 full-page illustrations by George DuMaurier. Described as "Full gilt" and priced $6.00 in 1874 Fables in Song.
1872: 3rd printing: 284 copies December 12.
1873-1879 PTLA: New Edition, 24 illustrations, full gilt, 8vo, $6.00; also offered in antique morocco $10.00.
1874-1875 PTLA: 4th printing: 284 copies December 4.

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1876: 5th printing: 280 copies September 16. PTLA: as 1873, plus tree calf, $10.00.
1877 PTLA: New Edition, 24 illustrations, full gilt, 8vo, $5.00; also offered in antique morocco $10.00.

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New Illustrated Paper Edition [i.e., Lucile and Other Poems]. 8vo, 130x240mm, 111p. in double columns. Lucile ends on page 89 and is followed by "The Apple of Life" and a group of short poems. Portrait frontispiece, illustrations. 1st printing: 2040 copies June 6; 2nd printing: 1010 copies October 23, 1871 and 3rd printing: 1000 copies May 21, 1872. Described "Paper" and priced $.50 in 1874 Fables in Song list. [1876 American Catalogue: Lucile and other poems. ill 8o. '69. pap., 50c.]
1871. Yale NL 0594588, rebound?; NYPL, rebound.
1872. Boston Public: printed buff wrappers preserved; S&EH: wrappers removed and block inserted at any early date in a cloth case; inscription dated Jan 1st 1875; news clipping pasted in "A supreme love, a motive that gives a sublime rhythm to a woman's life, and exalts habit into partnership with the soul's highest needs, is not to be had where and how she wills; to know that high initiation, she must often tread where it is hard to tread, and feel the chill air, and watch through darkness. It is not true that love makes all things easy; it makes us choose what is difficult. George Eliot. We cannot write the order of the variable winds. How can we penetrate the law of our shifting moods and susceptibility? Emerson"; verso of page 111 contains a list of other Owen Meredith works offered by Osgood.
1873-1877 PTLA: Lucile, and other Poems. Illustrated, 8vo, paper, $.50

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The following reported copies are not yet correctly identified by edition:

1873: NL 0594592 University of Michigan missing; Library of Congress Author's Edition rebound.
1874 NL 0594593: University of Virginia; NYPL. The Yale,Wellesley College, Boston Public, and Free Library Philadelphia copies are missing.
1878: NL 0594595 University of Illinois; Cleveland Public rebound; Oberlin

NOTE: An advertisement printed at the rear of BAP copy of 1874 Fables in Song, (verso of title page) "From Advance Sheets", lists Osgood's other Meredith titles, including Lucile: Blue & Gold, $1.50; Cabinet, $2.00; Diamond, $1.00; Red Line Edition, 8 Illustrations, Full Gilt, $3.50; Illustrated 8vo., Edition, 24 full page Illustrations, Full Gilt, $6.00; and Lucile and Other Poems, Illustrated 8vo. Paper, $.50. All send "post-paid, on receipt of price by the Publishers."

Editions of MEREDITH'S POEMS, including Lucile

Household Edition. 120x195mm, 406p. Title page: Household Edition. Spine: Illustrated (but only a frontispiece portrait is present). Cloth with gold panel stamp, roughly rectangular, which reads: Owen / Meredith's / Illustrated [in curved line] Poems. Blind medallion centered on rear board. Beveled edges. Glazed brown endpapers. Verso of 1875 second flyleaf carries a printed list of "Editions of the Works of Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton)" including five editions of Lucile ranging in price from $1.00 (32mo. Diamond Edition) to $6.00 (Holiday Edition, illustrated, 8vo., Full gilt). Household Edition of the Poems ("Containing Poems by Owen Meredith, Lucile, The Apple of Life, &c., 1 vol., 12mo.") priced at $2.00. 1876 American Catalogue-- ill 12o. $2; hf.cf., $4; mor., $5.
1875 PTLA: [New Household edition]. Illustrated, 12mo. [cloth] $2.00; antique morocco $5.00; half calf $4.00.
1876 PTLA: Illustrated, 12mo. [cloth] $2.00; antique morocco $5.00; half calf $4.00.
1877 PTLA: Illustrated, 12mo. [cloth] $2.00; antique morocco $5.00; half calf $4.00. Leatherette $3.00; also offered with Longfellow, Lowell, Tennyson and Whittier, 5 vols boxed, $15.00.

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Illustrated Library Edition.
1876 PW p816: A large variety of excellent gift material can be found in Osgood's Catalogue as the new Illustrated Library Edition of Tennyson ... Owen Meredith, and "Songs of Three Countries," each in an octavo of some 400 pages or more, with 34 full-page illustrations ($5 each), The Red-Line editions of these same and other poets ($3.50 each) ...."

1877 PW p604: Illustrated Library Poets. Longfellow, Lowell, Owen Meredith ... Each with 32 or more illustrations. With Red-line borders. Price of each in cloth, $5.00; Half Calf, $8.00; Tree Calf or Morocco, $10.00. In "Illustrated Gift Books" list, described as "portrait and 32 Full-page ill, 8vo."

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Editions of MEREDITH'S POEMS, not including Lucile

Blue & Gold Editions. 2 vols., priced $3.00; 1876 American Catalogue: Poems. (Blue and gold ed.) 2 v. 32o $2.50; hf.cf., $5; mor., $6. New Poems ("Chronicles and Characters"), Blue and Gold Edition, 2 vols., priced at $3.00, Cabinet Edition, 2 vols., $4.00, in 1874 Fables in Song. (Does not contain Lucile).
1873-1875 PTLA: 2 vols, 32mo. [cloth] $3.00; antique morocco $9.00; half calf $6.50.
1876-1877 PTLA: 2 vols, 32mo. [cloth] $3.00; antique morocco $6.00; half calf $5.00.

Cabinet Edition. 105x170mm. Cabinet Edition, 2 vols., priced $4.00, in 1874 Fables in Song. 1876 American Catalogue: Poems. (Cabinet ed.) 2 v. 16o. $3; hf.cf. $6; mor., $8.
1873-1875 PTLA: 2 vols, 16mo. [cloth] $4.00; antique morocco $7.00; half calf $5.00.
1876 PTLA: 2 vols, 16mo. [cloth] $4.00; antique morocco $8.00; half calf $6.00.
1877 PTLA: 2 vols, 16mo. [cloth] $3.00; antique morocco $5.00; half calf $4.00.

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Favorite Poems. (often termed Vest-Pocket Series of Standard and Popular Authors). The contents of this small volume include nothing from Lucile. It was one of several similar volumes in the same format (80x125mm, about 100 pages) for other poets and writers introduced in the 1870s, and as a series seems to have grown rapidly. Houghton Mifflin continued the series under its imprint after taking over Osgood, and in 1880 additionally combined three or four volumes into a Modern Classics series of more than 30 volumes; Meredith was issued with Kingsley and Stedman and offered in this format into the 1920s.

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Last revised: 10 Decemer 2022