Little Blue Book collection, 1921-1943, bulk 1920s

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Summary

Creators:
Haldeman-Julius, E. (Emanuel), 1888-1951, editor
Abstract:
This collection contains 324 booklets from the Little Blue Book and related series published by the Haldeman-Julius Company of Girard, Kansas in the mid-20th century. The titles in the collection range from reprints of literary classics by authors such as ancient Greek tragedians, William Shakespeare, and Ralph Waldo Emerson to contemporary writings by geologist Carroll Lane Fenton, historian Will Durant. More than 150 authors are represented and the booklets often focus on topics such as free thought, philosophy, religion, evolution, natural history, biographies of scientists and historical figures, and guides and essays about philosophers and authors.
Extent:
324 items in 6 boxes
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains 324 booklets from the Little Blue Book and related series published by the Haldeman-Julius Company of Girard, Kansas. The collection includes booklets dating from 1921 to 1943, with the bulk dating from the 1920s. The titles in the collection range from reprints of literary classics by authors such as ancient Greek tragedians, William Shakespeare, and Ralph Waldo Emerson to contemporary writings by geologist Carroll Lane Fenton, historian Will Durant. More than 150 authors are represented and the booklets often focus on topics such as free thought, philosophy, religion, evolution, natural history, biographies of scientists and historical figures, and guides and essays about philosophers and authors.

The booklets are 3.5 x 5.5 inches, with colored paper wrappers. The booklets are primarily identified as part of the "Little Blue Book" series on the front cover, but there are some titles from the Five cent pocket series; the Ten Cent pocket series; the Appeal pocket series; and the Pocket series. Entries for each imprint in the contents list contain the following information (when known): publisher's number; title; date; and author(s).

Biographical / historical:

Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (1889-1951) was an American social activist, journalist, and publisher. Haldeman-Julius was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1889, and became a member of the Socialist part in the early 1910s. In 1915, he moved to Girard, Kansas, to edit the socialist paper The Appeal to Reason. Four years later, Haldeman-Julius, his wife, and Louis Kopelin purchased the Appeal's printing plant and formed the Appeal Publishing Company. That year, the company began producing a small, inexpensive booklet series titled The Appeal's Pocket Series. In 1922, the company became the Haldeman-Julius Company.

The booklets expanded into multiple series in the early 1920s, including the People's Pocket Series, Ten Cent Pocket Series, Five Cent Pocket Series, and Pocket Series; the most commonly issued pocket series, the "Little Blue Books," was begun in 1923. Little Blue Books were published from 1923 until 1978 in a uniform 3.5 x 5 inch format with color paper wrappers and a 15,000-word limit. The booklets were aimed at providing inexpensive educational resources to the working class and typically included reprints of classic literary works, socialist writings, original essays, often by liberal and radical writers, and self-improvement manuals.

In 1925, the company also began publishing "Big Blue Books," which were 8.5 x 5.5 inches, typically with 30,000 words and 64 pages, and more expensive than the Little Blue Books. More than 300 million copies of the Big and Little Blue Books were sold before their discontinuation in 1964.

Haldeman-Julius died in 1951. Under the management of Haldeman-Julius's son Henry J. Haldeman, the company continued to produce pamphlets until the Girard plant was destroyed by fire in 1978.

Source:
Bushnell, Judith. "Haldeman-Julius Company," in The Dictionary of Literary Biography: Volume 46: American Literary Publishing Houses, 1900-1980 (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1986).

Acquisition information:
Volumes in this collection were primarily received as part of the Sanford and Helen Berger Collection that was acquired by the Huntington Library and Art Collections in 1999; some volumes were also received from Martin Ridge.
Arrangement:

The books are arranged numerically according to the number printed on the front cover. Generally, this number corresponds to chronological order, though some same later titles issued with the same number are repeated.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Note:

Finding aid last updated on January 12, 2015.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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