Jacob Abbott had written a number of books prior to the 1835
publication of The Little Scholar Learning to Talk. The books
printed before 1835 were mainly religious in nature and with few
exceptions not for children.
The origin of the Rollo Series is in some ways similar to the
origin of Dicken's Pickwick Papers. A publisher is looking for
text to accompany illustrations. In this instance in 1835, T. H.
Carter, a Boston book publisher and agent, had 24 diverse
illustrations that he wanted to put into a book format. He
approached Abbott who eventually incorporated the pictures into
The Little Scholar Learning to Talk. Rollo is not mentioned until
the last lines of the book but of course he becomes the main
character for the series that followed.
Abbott was paid $150 for the book which was published by John
Allen and Company.
The fourteen Rollo Books starting with Learning to Talk and ending
with the 1842 Rollo Philosophy Part IV-The Sky were the earliest
multi volume children's series involving stories of a central
character. These moralistic little tales were printed by numerous
publishing houses into the twentieth century.
Although this series of Rollo books was not as popular as the
Rollo's Tour in Europe Series, it still was a massive success.
The series consists of fourteen books. In most bibliographical
material two other Rollo books which are not part of the series
are noted. Rollo Code of Morals: or the rules of duty for children
was published by Crocker and Brewster, a Boston publisher, in
1841.
Interestingly although the second title, Rollo Reader, is also mentioned in most lists as being published in 1841, I cannot find any evidence that this book was ever printed. This title is listed in the 1882 memorial edition of Abbott's Young Christian but no publisher is given. Weber and other bibliographies have no description of this book. Presently I think the jury is out as to whether it actually exists.
Title | Copyright | 1st Ed. Imprint Date | 1st Ed. Publisher | |
1. | The Little Scholar Learning to Talk (Later titled Rollo Learning to Talk) |
1835 | 1835 | John Allen and Company |
2. | Rollo Learning to Read | 1835 | 1835 | John Allen and Company |
3. | Rollo at Work | 1837 | 1838 | TH Carter |
4. | Rollo at Play | 1837 | 1838 | TH Carter |
5. | Rollo at School | 1838 | 1839 | TH Carter |
6. | Rollo's Vacation | 1838 (TH Carter) | 1839 | William Crosby and Company |
7. | Rollo's Experiments | 1839 (TH Carter) | 1839 | Weeks, Jordan and Company |
8. | Rollo's Museum | 1839 (TH Carter) | 1839 | Weeks, Jordan and Company |
9. | Rollo's Travels | 1839 (TH Carter) | 1840 | William Crosby and Company |
10. | Rollo's Correspondence | 1839 (TH Carter) | 1840 | William Crosby and Company |
11. | Rollo Philosophy Part I- Water | 1841 (TH Carter) | 1841 | Hogan and Thompson |
12. | Rollo Philosophy Part II- Air | 1841 (TH Carter) | 1841 | Hogan and Thompson |
13. | Rollo Philosophy Part III- Fire | 1842 (TH Carter) | 1842 | Hogan and Thompson |
14. | Rollo Philosophy Part IV- The Sky | 1842 (TH Carter) | 1842 | Hogan and Thompson |
-
The books of this series were printed by numerous publishing
houses.
- John Allen and Company 1835
- Otis Broaders and Company with Jas. H. Weeks in 1837. Just Otis, Broaders in 1843
- T. H. Carter 1837-1842
- Weeks, Jordan and Company 1838-1839
- William Crosby and Company 1839-1840
- Samuel Colman 1839
- Hogan and Thompson 1841-1850 (with Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln)
- Thomas H. Webb and Company ca. 1843
- Parrish, Dunning and Mears 1852
- B. F. Jackson 1853
- Phillips, Sampson and Company 1854-late 1850's (with and without James C. Derby)
- Sheldon and Company 1860-late 1870's
- S. E. Cassino 1882
- Thomas Y. Crowell 1883-1910's
- American Book Company 1903
- E. P. Dutton and Company 1908
In chronological order they are:
John Allen and Company, Boston 1835
This firm published the first editions of the first two Rollo
books in 1835. The name of the first title was The Little Scholar
Learning to Talk. By 1837 the name had been changed to Rollo
Learning to Talk. Both books were 18 mo. The Learning to Read
author was listed "as his father". The second book's author was
given as "the author of "The Little Scholar Learning to Read".
Initially Abbott and T.H. Carter had come to an agreement for
Carter to publish the first two Rollo books. Because of financial
setbacks Allen proffered the money for the stories and published
them with its own imprint and copyright. Allen never published the
books after 1835.
Otis Broaders & Company, Boston 1837/1843
In 1837 Otis Broaders co-published with Jas. H. Weeks, a New York
publisher, Rollo Learning to Read, the second book in the Rollo
Series. It is uncertain whether it also published book #1 Rollo
Learning to Talk at that time. Presumably it did. These two books
have not been seen.
Otis, Broaders only published the four Rollo Philosophy books in
1843. The books are 6.5 x 4.5.
1843 |
1843 |
|||
|
1843 |
T. H. Carter 1837-1842
Carter published three Rollo first editions on its own imprint.
These books are 18 mo.
3. Rollo at Work (Copyright 1837- imprint on first edition 1838)
4. Rollo at Play (Copyright 1837- imprint on first edition 1838)
5. Rollo at School (Copyright 1838- imprint on first edition 1839)
First edition of Rollo at Play |
First edition of Rollo at School |
Carter held the 1838 copyright of #6. Rollo's Vacation which was
first published by William Crosby and Company.
By 1840 the first ten Rollo books had been published. Carter
already had the copyrights for its Rollo first editions (Books
#3-5). It subsequently held the copyrights of books #6-10
published first by William Crosby and Company and Weeks and Jordan
and Company in 1839 and 1840.
The copyrights for books #7-10 were dated 1839
Apparently T. Harrington Carter talked Abbott into writing the
four Rollo Philosophy books which were published in 1842 and 1843.
Hogan and Thompson published the first editions of the four
volumes (#11-14 in the series). Carter had the copyrights however.
11. Rollo Philosophy-Water (Copyright in 1841 by T.H. Carter)
12. Rollo Philiosophy-Air (Copyright in 1841 by T.H. Carter)
13. Rollo Philosophy-Fire (Copyright in 1842 by T.H. Carter)
14. Rollo Philosophy- Water (Copyright in 1842 by T.H. Carter)
Weeks, Jordan and Company, Boston 1838, 1839, 1841
Weeks, Jordan published a new and uniform edition of the Rollo
books in six volumes in 1838 and early 1839.
These books were:
1. The Little Scholar Learning to Talk
2. Learning to Read
3. At Work
4. At Play
5. At School
6. Vacation
In September 1839 it published the first editions of Experiments
and Museum. These books were copyrighted by T. H. Carter in 1839.
Thus by the end of 1839 the Weeks, Jordan Rollo Series consisted
of eight books.
In 1841 Weeks Jordan published four Rollo books
1. Experiments
2. Museum
3. Travels
4. Correspondence
There is no evidence that the first six Rollo books were published
by Weeks, Jordan and Company at that time.
There have been four blind stamped cover patterns noted. One is
found on the earliest Weeks, Jordan books published in 1838. Three
were published in 1839. No known priority is noted between the
first two 1839 covers. The third cover noted below is the same as
the 1841 cover and the undated cover and is thought to be the
latest of the three 1839 covers. All of this publisher's books are
6.5 x 4.25.
1838 Edition |
1839 First Edition |
|||
|
1839 Edition |
1839 Edition |
||
|
1839 Edition |
1839 Edition (latest 1839 cover) |
|||
|
1841 Edition |
Unknown date but published between 1839 and 1841 |
William Crosby and Company, Boston
This firm published three Rollo first editions.
6. Rollo Vacation, 1839
9. Rollo's Travels, 1840
10. Rollo's Correspondence, 1840
Book #6 Vacation was copyrighted by T.H. Carter in 1838. Books #9
and #10 were copyrighted by T. H. Carter in 1839.
All three books are 6.5 x 4.25. Several blind stamped cover
patterns have been seen. No known priority is recognized at this
time.
It appears that Crosby only published these three Rollo titles.
Samuel Colman, Boston
Colman published the first two Rollo books in 1838. In 1839 the first two books were reprinted and the books 3-6 were published by Colman.
1838 |
1839 |
Hogan and Thompson - Philadelphia with Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, Boston 1841, 1842, 1843, 1850
Early in 1841 Hogan and Thompson along with its co-publisher
Gould, Kendall and Lincoln published nine out of ten of the Rollo
books. Rollo's Experiments was excluded from this list. By later
in 1841 all ten Rollo's were being published. This publisher
printed the first editions of the four Rollo Philosophy books. The
first two in 1842 and the second two in 1843. All were copyrighted
by T. H. Carter in the preceding year.
Hogan and Thompson first editions
11. Rollo Philosophy Part I- Water 1842
12. Rollo Philosophy Part II- Air 1842
13. Rollo Philosophy Part III- Fire 1843
14. Rollo Philosophy Part IV- Sky 1843
The 1850 fourteen volume set is a "new, revised by the author"
edition.
1841 |
1841 |
|||
|
||||
1842 (First edition)- Copyright 1841 by T. H. Carter |
1843 (First edition)- Copyright 1842 by T. H. Carter |
|||
|
||||
1845 |
1850 |
|||
|
||||
1850 |
Undated. |
|||
|
||||
Undated. Published by Hogan and Thompson only. |
Thomas H. Webb and Company, Boston ca.1843
Thomas Webb published the primary series under the "sanction of
the Board of Education of the State of Massachusetts". This series
included all fourteen of the Rollo books as well as all six of the
Cousin Lucy books. All of the books are reprints.
The exact date of the Primary Series publication is unclear
(probably 1843). The books are 6.25 x 4.25.
|
Parrish, Dunning & Mears, Philadelphia (1850-1853)
This Philadelphia firm published its fourteen volume Rollo Series
in two formats. The first was identical to the 1845/1850 cloth
Hogan and Thompson publications. Thus this would indicate that
this is the earlier of the two Parrish books and that this
publisher succeeded Hogan and Thompson in publishing the Rollo
books. The book is an 18 mo- 6 x 4.
The later Parrish book is a red blindstamped book (6.25 x 4.25)
with gold gilt lettering on the spine.
The exact dates of publication of these Parrish reprints is
unclear but is presumed to be between 1850 and 1853.
Earlier edition |
This later Parrish edition has the publisher Willis P. Hazard
lettered in gold gilt at the bottom the spine. There is no
evidence that Hazard, a Philadelphia publisher, printed any Rollo
books. Nonetheless it is possible that Hazard for a short time
published these volumes using the Parrish plates.
Later edition |
B. F. Jackson, Philadelphia 1853
In 1853 Jackson published the fourteen book series. It appears that this edition preceded the earliest Phillips and Sampson publications since the embossed cover design and the gold gilt decorations on the spine of the two editions are identical. The book is 6.25 x 4.25.
Phillips, Sampson and Company 1854-late 1850's
This firm published the fourteen book Rollo Series in several
formats.
The earliest PS and Co. edition has the same embossed cover
picture as the earlier 1853 B. F. Jackson publication. The spine
gold gilt is also the same with the exception of differing flowers
at the top and bottom. This edition was co-published with the New
York based James C. Derby publishing house. The books were priced
at 50 cents per volume. It was published in 1854. The 1854 books
either have the earlier T.H. Carter copyrights from 1842
(Philosophy books) or an 1850 Hogan and Thompson copyright.
The next PS and Co. publications have the same embossed cover
pattern but the spine is totally different. These books also list
PS and Co. 1855 on the copyright page. Thus were published in 1855
or later.
A later Phillips reprint of this series is blindstamped with gold
gilt on the spine. Red and brown cloth books have been seen. These
books are 7 x 4.5.
This is the 1854 edition with the non Phillips, Sampson copyright. |
This PS and Co. book has the 1855 Phillips copyright. Not published with James C. Derby. |
Another edition with the 1855 PS and Co. copyright. |
This PS and Co. edition has the same gold gilt spine
pattern/decoration that the later Sheldon and Company books have.
Thus this is the latest of the three Phillips, Sampson and Company
editions published in the late 1850's. The title pages of these
books are the same as the earlier editions. Some were co-published
with James C. Derby while others were not.
Sheldon and Company, New York 1860-late 1870's
Sheldon published the fourteen book Rollo Series in numerous
different formats between 1860 and the late 1870's. Between
1860-1864 two different Rollo sets were published and the books
were sold mostly just by the set: An 18 mo. cheaper edition and a
16 mo. more expensive book. The larger 1860 book had the identical
format as the last Phillips, Sampson and Company.
Here is the smaller, cheaper 1860 book.
1860 (6.25 x 4) |
1860 (6.75 x 4.5) Same as the Phillips, Sampson and Co. format |
In 1861-1863 the smaller book had a new format.
1864 (6.75 x 4.5) Format unchanged from the 1860 book
In 1864 and early 1865 the the cover decoration was changed very slightly.
1865 |
1866 |
1867 edition |
1868 |
1868 |
1872 |
Several undated Sheldon Rollo books have seen. These all have the same address on the title page: 677 Broadway. Sheldon was at this address between 1871 and 1875.
Two books have been seen with Sheldon's No. 8 Murray Street address. Sheldon was there between 1876 and 1884. The purple cover book is dated 1877. The exact date of publication of the undated blue cover book is unknown.
S. E. Cassino and Company, Boston 1882-1884
In 1882 Cassino bought the plates of the fourteen volume Rollo Series from Sheldon and Company. Initially the plan was to publish the fourteen books in seven volumes. It is unclear if the two volumes in one edition was ever published. Late in 1882 a fourteen volume set was advertised. This was published between 1882 and 1884. It was sold in boxed sets only for $14.
Thomas Y. Crowell and Company 1883-1910's
Crowell published the Rollo books in a number of different
series.
All fourteen volumes were published in 1883 in a 12 mo. cloth and
gilt decorated cover. This cover was also used in the Jonas and
the Cousin Lucy Series. In 1887 the books were enlarged such that
the series now only included seven (two stories in one) books. The
covers remained the same. By 1905 this format was phased out.
1883-1886 |
1887-1905 |
Crowell was at the Astor street address between 1881-1886.
In 1905 a new edition Rollo Series was published. This series included all fourteen books with a mustard cloth cover which has a picture of Rollo. It was printed into the teens.
This title page is on the later books of this format.
The multi volume Children's Favorite Classics included Rollo at Work and Rollo at Play beginning in 1895. This series has been seen in several formats. In the late 1890's both Rollo books appeared in a half vellum edition (6.75 x 5) as well as an 8 vo. cloth edition. The 1900 version is in green cloth with a picture of Rollo on the cover. There is a gold gilt pattern that encompasses the entire spine. By 1906 the spine had only a small gold gilt decoration in addition to the lettering. This series was published into the teens. (These latter books were 6.75 x 5.)
Late 1890's- Half Vellum Editon |
1895 edition 8 vo. |
1899 |
1900-1906 |
1907-1910's |
1907-1910's |
The Children's Handy Library included only Rollo at Work and Rollo at Play. These small plaid decorated books were published from 1906 into the teens. (6.25 x 4.25)
1906-1910's |
|
American Book Company, New York 1903
Clifton Johnson edited versions of Rollo at Work and Rollo at
Play in this volume. He states in his preface that he attempted to
keep the basic moralistic instruction in the stories but deleted
some of the more drawn-out moralizing sections. Abbott's son,
Lyman Abbott, wrote a several page introduction. The illustrations
are new to this edition. The artist is unknown.
The Eclectic School Readings were intended for third-grade
supplementary readings and preceded the "Eclectic Readings".
This title has been seen with a cover that says "Eclectic
Readings".
(7.5 x 5.25) |
E. P. Dutton and Company, New York 1908
Dutton added a Rollo book to its Everyman's Library in 1908. This is a combination book which is entitled Rollo at Work and Rollo at Play. The book came in two formats. Cloth at 35 cents and leather at 70 cents.