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1984 Nov-Dec Official publication of the HORATIO ALGER SOCIETY, a magazine devoted to the study of Horatio Alger, Jr., his life, works, and influence on the culture of America. 18)2 - 1899 Founded l96l by, Forresl Campbelt & Kenneth B. Butler Yolume )GIII November-December 1 984 Numbers 7-B &n,,t /./ ,fi^l /c,/Lf q / h*/, o/1,--/ A,u, f ,C, / /t /fr',il, fu**,, /o ail oa ur)/n r^^, /{; o[Cn,,y 6 U^ /,,r /to.,/n /, "^:/ f,f,,(^*7f, f/*/ ,7 l- //!,,,!,/ //*/t*^ 6,/ ^ ,lo,/ffi',,/k, ",'/, l "l,l o h n(, q/nor,, 'l /r rorD 6.*/ - ,1 hu/au ^ /6**t;4_r j,r{* //( bourl7 / Horatio Alger he1d. stock ln a cooperative store in Natick, Mass., and in this note--from the coll-ection of D. James Ryberg--he appoints his brother-in-law, Amos Cheney, to act as his attorney to sign for him the transfer of his shares. John M. Dorvnie, the witness, was u 15-yeur-o1d orphan in 1884 when Alger informally adopted him. He enrolled in a commercial school at 18, was apprenticed to a photographer aL 19, and in 1895, as Alger proudly wrote in 1898, he "passed the civil service examination and. became one of Theodore Booseveltts reform pol-ice." John Downie was one of three boys whom Alger adopted. during the 188Os and early 1890s. NEWSBOY HORATIO ALGNR SOCIETY LETTERS To further the phiosophy of Horatio Letters to the Eclitor are welcome, Alger, Jr., and to encourage the spirit but may be ed.ited or condensed clue to of Strive ani[ Succeed that for half a space l"imitations. century guided Algerrs unclauntecl heroes--lails whose struggles epitomized (Uaitorrs note: After the Dick the Great ArBrican Dream and ffamed hero Seddon auction, some of the newer ideals in countless millions of young members wrote and asked me, I'Just who Americans. was this Dick Seclclon that you all OFFIC ERS seem to regarcl so highly?" I wrote EUGENE H. HAFNER PRESIDENT them back, telling them all aborlt D. JAMES R.rBERG YICE-PRESIDENT Dick, and just recently, while cleaning CARL T. HARTMANN SECRETARY out my files, I came across a cache ALEX F. SHANER TREASI]RER of letters that Dick sent me. One PAIIL F. MILLER DIRECTOR of them immediately caught my eye-- I{ILLIAM McC0RD D]RECTOR the last one that Dick ever wrote m€r EDD]E LeBLANC DIRECTOR written just a few weeks before he I{ILLIAM D. RUSSELL DTRECTOR clied. I prlnt it here so that some GLENN S. COBCOBAN D]RECTOB of our newer members will have a better BEATRICE FORTNER DIRECTOR understanding of this unique inclividu- I{]LL]AM L. LEITNER DIRECTOR a]) . ROBERT E. SAWYER DIRECTOR BOB BENNETT DIRECTOR EMER]TUS Jan. 10, 19BO RALPH D. GARDNER DIRECTOR EMERITUS MAX GOLDBERG DIRECTOR E}MR]TUS Dear Jack, Newsboy, the official organ of the You can't teII how pleased I was that Horatio Alger Society, is published. bi- you tried. to reach me last night. To monthly (six issues per year). Member- think that someone was thinking of me ship fee for any twelve month period is even if I was not in a very goocl condi- $15.00, rrith single issues costing tion to communicate. My problems are $3.00. P1ease make all remittances adding up and some days get too much for payable to the Horatio Alger Society. me but Mary and" my entire family are Membership applications, renewals, taking such good care of me that I feel changes of adclress, and other corres- like the luckiest guy on earth. As you pond.ence should be sent to the Society's know, I will soon be 76 years olcl (in Secretary, Carl T. Hartmann, 49OT AIti- April) anct f have lived a nice full son Drive, Lansing, Michigan 4891O. life doing many of the things Itve wanted" to. My own fofks are all gone, Ner,rsboy is inclexecl in the Mod-ern most o.f my former business associates Language Association t s Tnternational are either gone or drifted. apart. Bibliography. This leaves the Horatio Alger Society and a few members of the Society of The Society recognizes Bob Bennett's American Magicians as my contemporaries, Horatio Alger, Jr.: A Comprehensive and there is a strong pu1l to iclentify Ii-&fgIAy., ," the most current, with them. T can honestly say that I d.efinitive authority on Alger's works. never knew a finer bunch of people, nor enjoyed myself so much when I was with Newsboy ad rates: 1 pager $lZ.OO; one them. I regard each one as my friencl half page, $17.00; one-fourth page, and- am only too pleased to perform some $9.00; per column (1" , 34f 4"), $2.00. small service for them. Sencl acls, with check payable to the Hora- tio Alger Society, to Bob Sawyer, 2O4 As for you, Jackr you are one of my MitI St., Gahanna, Ohio 43230. special friend.s. I hope we can once November-December NEWSBOY more take a day or tr.vo along the bay on their or.m collections about Burt Algers the coast of Maine and enjoy a lobster primarily identifying titles I hadn't stew among the boats. But if we never been able to confirm that were prod.uced. d.o werl-l have had it once and it was as part of a specific format. Other worth it. I hope f am not getting comments relating to the format draw- maucllin but so nnany of my friends are ings, charts and title listings vere ill and out of it that it gets lonely complimentary and much appreciatecl, some days. making the many hours ve spent in pre- pari-ng them worth the effort. Some Remember me to your lovely mother ancl people shared with me their frustrations drop me a line when ancl if you think of with the scarcity of information it. I have a few letters to write this around on publishing patterns which oc- morning, but r.ranted to be sure and curred over eighty years ago. Others thank you. See you at Bradrs in May, raised. some questions about a few of hope. I my conclusions but provided no Sincerely, definitive information which would Di ck xx* change those conclusions. CHANGES OF ADDRESS The most exciting thing to happen was the d.iscovery by Dale Thomas of a PF-O24 Gilbert K. I{estgarcl ff Burt format that I was not aware of 1OO1 S. W. 5th Court and therefore had not included. in my Bo;mton Beach, FLA 3j435 book. Dal-e brought the new discovery to our Nashua convention ancl subse- PF-627 Gilbert 0'Gara quently lent it to me so I couId trace 811 Boulder Ave. the format and anal-yze the contents. Des Moines, f or,ra 5031 j Essentially, it is a hard.cover eilition J(** of Joers Luck in clark brown cloth, MORE ON ALGER BOOKS 5+ iyj GE"" in size and about PTIBLISIIED BY A.L. BURT ] inch thick. The pictorial cover has by Brad Chase black line d"rawings ancl blind.stamped. Iettering. There is gold lettering on ftve hacl many interesting reactions the spine. from collectors of old chilclrenrs stories to my recent book on Algers The front cover shows a placid lake produced by Albert L. Burt. Several scene, a sailboat on the Alger water rrith collectors have to1d. me that they rocks and trees on the shore. An have reexamined their collections to insert circle shows a boy riding a see what Burt Algers they owned. and how galloping horse. The pred.ominant those books fea- related, to the chronology ture on the cover is the title and the and publishing pattern of Burt as shor^m authorrs name vhich are blindstamped in my book. Some people have indicated. and set within a jet black bord.er. The that they have reorganized. and rear- back cover is plain brov-n cloth. The ranged their Burt Atgers in their co1- spine shows the title and the last name lections on the basis of the eight of the author in gold lettering. The series and. 47 Burt formats f identi- center of the spine has a circle fied, and have acljusted their collecting shoving the head of a boy wearing a patterns accordingly. These reactions fez. Horizontal black gi.ve lines are below me a feeting of tremenclous satis- the circle and extend to the bottom faction and make much of the publishing where the worrls t'A. L. Burtil appear effort worthwhile. under blad.es of grass. f recelved reactions also concerning I've conctuded. that this format is book content. Several people sent me the first hardcover ed.ition of Joers ad.ditional information gathered. from Luck; it was produced. in hard.co6Jr"t 1984 NEWSBOY after the first eclition paperback and' is NOTES FROM RALPH part of The Boysr Home Library Series. by RalPh D. Gardner The 162 Wi-lliam Street address means that it was published. prior to Burt An HAS member who recalls the fo11ow- moving to Beekman Street in 1888, ing article thought it might be of in- probably in IBB7, just after the paper- terest to others rrho didn't read it when back first edition was proaluced that it first appearecl. It was originally same year. I've cal]ed it Format 3A, pubtished in the Dime Novel Roun{up The Horse antl Rid.er Format. I feel the back in January L972. It is reprintetl Joers Luck title was the only one pro- here with the kind permission of DNR d"""d in tfri" format as Burt was experi- Ed.itor Ec1d.i-e LeBlanc.
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