Publishers Ernest Nister And E.P. Dutton & Co.

Crop of No Idle Story

Co Publishers E Nister and E P Dutton

The above are crops from the prior posting of the 1907 postcard under the title of No Idle Story. (Just click on the images to enlarge.) It shows the publisher info of Ernest Nister of London and E.P. Dutton & Co. of New York. These are two very well-known and researched names in the world of antique and vintage ephemera, so we won’t go into great detail. Briefly, Ernest Nister was a German born printer and publisher known for his superior quality children’s books in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and known for his innovations in the pop-up and moveable picture book genre. Nister started in Nuremburg, Germany and branched out to London and New York. E. P. Dutton & Co. was an American book publishing company founded by bookseller Edward Payson Dutton in Boston in 1852. (Wondering briefly if there was any connection to Edward Payson Butler, photographer, or just coincidence.) Dutton began publishing in 1864 and then relocated to New York in 1869. His company became one of the leading U.S. publishers and worked with many famous authors. In 1986 the company was acquired by The Penguin Group. Dutton was known as both distributor for Nister, and later as co-publisher. Many collectables in the form of books, calendars, holiday cards, postcards from either/or and both companies in tandem, can be found online.

Sources:  “Ernest Nister.” From  “A Brief History of Moveable Books.” UNT Libraries. Web accessed January 3, 2015. [http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/nister.htm]

“E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc. Records.” Syracuse University Libraries Finding Aids. Web accessed January 3, 2015. [http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/e/ep_dutton.htm]

“Publisher – Ernest Nister/E.P. Dutton” Oct. 20, 2014. Vintage Valentine Museum. Web accessed January 3, 2015. [http://www.vintagevalentinemuseum.com/2014/10/publisher-ernest-nistere-p-dutton.html]

“Dutton.” Penguin.com. Web accessed January 3, 2015. [http://www.penguin.com/meet/publishers/dutton/]

E. Nash, Postcard Publisher

As promised in the last post, here is a run-down of what’s up, (ha, well I guess that’s both a “what’s on this website so far” and a “whazzup?” 😉 )  for postcard publisher E. Nash, “about whom not much is known” and an unknown publisher who is identified by the “A” or double “A” in a circle logo. This unknown publisher used a very beautiful and distinctive postcard back header with a spiral design around the “C.” From looking at the postcards below, it appears that Nash may have bought the rights to the spiral header design from the double A in circle guy, approximately sometime between December 11, 1912 and September 3, 1913. As we come across more pertaining to these two publishers, we will update this post accordingly. (Click on the image to enlarge, then once again for a slightly more enlarged view.)

Update:  The identity of the “unknown publisher” above was found. See the April 3, 2016 post re Sanford Salke and the American Art Production Co.

Lemons and Pink Poppies pc1Lemons and Pink Poppies pc2

“Lemons And Pink Poppies.” Postmarked November 15, 1910. Pre – Nash we presume. Publisher unknown. Note the “A” or double “A” in the circle logo, at the bottom left on the back.

Basket of Forget Me Nots pc1Basket of Forget Me Nots pc2

“Basket Of Forget-Me-Nots.” Dated by the sender August 15, 1912. The logo on the front, bottom left, is attributed to E. Nash. Note the Old English style postcard header.

May The Golden Sunrise pc1May The Golden Sunrise pc2

“May The Golden Sunrise.” Postmarked December 11, 1912. Publisher E. Nash per the logo on the front left, and with the same Old English style header on the back.

May You Be As Happy pc1May You Be As Happy pc2

“May You Be As Happy.” Postmarked September 3, 1913. Publisher E. Nash. The front logo is still the same but note the major change in the back header that shows “Copyright E. Nash” on the outside of the spiral. It would appear from the change that sometime between December 11, 1912 and September 3, 1913, that Nash obtained the rights to the spiral design postcard header.

Sincere Wishes From Sophia Hubbard pc1Sincere Wishes From Sophia Hubbard pc2

“Sincere Wishes From Sophia Hubbard.” Dated by the sender October 7, 1913. Publisher unknown. Pre – Nash logo of “A” or “A”s in circle, bottom left of back. This date obviously is after the above postcard’s date. The sender must have purchased the card prior to the publisher change for the spiral design, and sent it afterwards.

Heres A Handshake pc1Heres A Handshake pc2

“Here’s A Handshake.” Postmarked October 22, 1913. Publisher E. Nash logo on the front left and Nash’s name and copyright outside the spiral design in the back header.

Art Nouveau Violets pc1Art Nouveau Violets pc2

“Art Nouveau Violets.” Postmarked March 20, 1915. Publisher E. Nash per the logo on front left, but the beautiful spiral design header has been replaced by the simple (but elegant) “POST CARD” header on the back. It looks like the new design gave the sender more writing room.

E Nash logo

Example of E. Nash logo, taken from “Art Nouveau Violets” showing the copyright and the “N” in triangle. (The L-11 was just the number or series from that particular card.)

A logo 1

A logo 2

Regarding the unknown publisher with the “A” or double “A” in the circle, check out the subtle differences between the first logo and a presumably later dated one. (The 57 1/1 in the second one being just the series or number of that card.) The first image is from the Lemons and Poppies postcard postmarked November 15, 1910; and the second is from the Sincere Wishes postcard dated by the sender, October 7, 1913.

Additionally…..a beautiful Nash Valentine’s postcard sent to us from reader, Keith Schumacher…..(thanks, Keith!). This card was addressed to Miss Lizzie Albright, Courtenay, North Dakota, and was postmarked February 14th, in what appears to have been year 1913.