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Identifying the edition of a book can be a complicated matter. It is not always easy to tell from the book itself, especially with older books or where, as is the case with Harper and Brothers, the publisher uses baffling codes for its various editions.
Harper and Brothers Publishers, established in 1817 as they proudly proclaimed on many of their publications, was founded as J and J Harper by James and John Harper. Shortly afterwards they were joined in their endeavour by their brothers, Joseph and Fletcher, and the company was renamed Harper and Brothers in 1833. Its headquarters were on Pearl Street in Manhattan (where the approach to Brooklyn Bridge is today). The company published a suite of magazines, such as Harper’s Weekly and Harpers’ Bazar (which became Harper’s Bazaar in 1913 and is still published under the name Bazaar), as well as books. It attracted a number of well known authors, such as Thornton Wilder, Aldous Huxley, Howard Spring, and Amistead Maupin. In 1962 Harper Brothers merged with another published, Row Peterson and Company, to become Harper and Row. Harper and Row was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in 1987. News Corporation also owned the UK publisher, William Collins and the two firms were merged in 1990 to become HarperCollins, which is today one of the largest publishers in the world.
Between 1912 and 1968, Harper and Brothers used a series of codes in its books, on the copyright page, which can help book collectors and others interested in such things to determine the date on which a book was printed and its issue. The code will be something like ‘I-G’, but look closely as its often printed in a very small font. The first letter designates the month of printing, the second indicates the year. The table below decodes the letters. The matter is made a little more complicated because Harper and Brothers, in 1937, began to recycle the ‘year letter’, but it’s usually possible to tell from the book itself whether it is pre or post 1937.
Key to Harper’s Printing Codes
First letter is month: A= January, B=February, C=March, D=April, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=August, I=September; The list skips J. K=October, L=November, M=December.
M=1912; N=1913; O=1914; P=1915; Q=1916; R=1917; S=1918; T=1919; U=1920; V=1921; W=1922; X=1923; Y=1924; Z=1925; A=1926; B=1927; C=1928; D=1929; E=1930; F=1931; G=1932; H=1933; I=1934; K=1935; L=1936
Recycled Dates Beginning in 1937
M=1937, N=1938, O=1939, P=1940, Q=1941, R=1942, S=1943, T=1944, U=1945, V=1946, W=1947, X=1948, Y=1949, Z=1950, A=1951, B=1952, C=1953, D=1954, E=1955, F=1956, G=1957, H=1958, I=1959, K=1960, L=1961, M=1962, N=1963, O=1964, P=1965, Q=1966, R=1967, S=1968
So, using this decoding table, I can tell that the copy of Pyle’s Book of Pirates (a fabulously illustrated classic, if improbable and impractical guide to pirating which we have just acquired for our shop stock) which has the code I-W on the copyright page was printed in September 1922.
10 responses
I have a copy of Among Us cats by w e hill. It was published November of 1928. He’ll autographed the book and create a little design and Note for my mother. I would like to know a little more about we Hill
I got a cook Book Day by Day cook. BOOK DATED BACK IN 1939
What a lovely thing to have – that’s certainly a cook book of some age. What are the recipes like?
Mary, I wanted to apologise for taking so long to respond to your inquiry about W E Hill. I think your post got missed at the time and I only just spotted it today when looking at other comments on this post.
With an design and note from the author, i suspect your book may have some value – especially if it is in good condition, although of course it will have more as a family heirloom!
There was a profile of W E Hill – the perfectionist cartoonist – published in a 1949 issue of ‘Editor and Publisher’; this is the only source I can find which gives more than the most basic details of his life and work. Fortunately the article has been posted on the web by the wonderful comic strip historian Allan Holtz on his blog/site, The Stripper’s Guide (https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/). You can see it here:
https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2007/02/news-of-yore-w-e-hill-profiled.html
Hope this helps.
I have a book by Harper’s Modern Classics titled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes first published in 1930. The two letter-codes in my book are D-I. Based on the information you have given the date is either April 1934 or April 1959. How can I distinguish between the two different editions ?. I have a feel of the paper and it doesnt have the usual characteristics of late 50s early 60s book papers so i am a bit uncertain about which edition. It would be nice if Harper has a list of editions they published in 1934 or 1959….
Hi, lucky you, owning such a special book. The way we usually distinguish, when dating these books, is to look at the quality and nature of production – book production changed so much over the period, it is usually clear. In this case though, there is an easier way to tell. The Harper’s Modern Classics series started in 1917 – and books continued to be added to the series, quite slowly at first, right through until 1968. Books in the series had uniform bindings and dust jackets using the same designed. However, the series was ‘refreshed’ in 1949, with the binding style changing and a new dust jacket template introduced. So you could easily tell whether your book is pre or post 1949, and that would give you your publication date. If you care to share a photo or two, we would be happy to advise whether the book is pre or post 1949, or you can look for yourself if you wish, at this page, which has details and photos of books in the series from both before and after 1949. https://seriesofseries.owu.edu/harpers-modern-classics/
I have a copy of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s HUNTSMAN, WHAT QUARRY? from 1939. It is marked “First edition,” with the letter code D-O for April 1939. Above the “first edition” and the letter code are the numbers “5-9.” What do they mean?
I’m afraid I do not know that the numbers mean. Harper and Row (the successor publishing company to Harper and Brothers) had a habit of including codes to indicate the series the book was published in and the retail price of the book. I have not come across these codes in Harper and Brothers’ books, but I wonder if I have just not noticed and in fact the series/price practice actually started with Harper and Brothers. Just a thought. I will keep an eye out and see if I can find some more firm information.
I have a family book, “I Remember Distinctly”, copywriter 1947 (can’t find code). Harper and Brothers. Kindly request any info re same. Not in gd condition.
Hi Deborah
Is your book a bit like this one?
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31023043996&searchurl=pn%3DHarper%26xpod%3Doff%26bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3DI%2BRemember%2BDistinctly%26recentlyadded%3Dall&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title8