No doubt this change was made to reduce the cost of the books. By then the genuine leather covers originally used had been replaced with an early type of imitation leather consisting of latex coated canvas on the outside with flocking on the inside. The books were advertised on the back cover of National Geographic magazine ten different months from January 1922 to October 1924. There is some indication that single volumes were included as promotional items in cereal boxes as a means of advertising the collection. By the early 1920’s the Little Leather Library was being advertised in popular magazines and sold directly by mail order. The retail price for these first editions has not been determined. The first two editions of the Little Leather Library volumes appear to have been bound in real leather. Initially the books were sold through the Woolworth’s chain of retail stores. Soon after the Little Leather Library was founded, Albert Boni sold his interest in the business and went on to establish the Modern Library publishing company, which ultimately spawned Random House Publishers as a subsidiary company. The selection of book titles included in the Little Leather Library collection was generally limited to older classics for which the publisher did not pay any copyright royalties. It was one of the first attempts to mass-market inexpensive books in the United States. The Little Leather Library Corporation of New York was founded in 1916 by Albert Boni, Harry Scherman and Maxwell Sackheim. ![]() The books contain classic works of English literature and because of their age are part of the public domain. The small books are housed in two boxes and 86 files. ![]() The Little Leather Library Collection was accessioned into the Piqua Public Library Archives and Special Collections in July 2009 as a gift from the family of Herschel and Marguerite Meek.
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