Artunderwraps

Annotated Reference Guide to Collectible Books and Original Prints

Hubbard, Elbert Annotated Bibliography & Selected Collectible Books



Elbert Hubbard was an interesting figure in American history, and though he is now more known as the founder of a popular Socialist community, he was also a well-established author, and a wide range of his published works are available as potential finds for the dedicated collector. Between first editions, signed copies, and hand-illuminated books, Hubbard's works provide entry points for collectors of all budgets. The most affordable collectibles from Hubbard are first-edition collections printed in the 1920's. These are not signed, as they were printed after his death in 1915, but are impressive antiques nonetheless, and a great place to start for a beginning collector. For those interested in collector pieces tangentially related to Hubbard, books by other authors from Roycroft Press, which was owned and managed by Hubbard, are also available.

Collectors with deeper pockets also have some prime options to choose from when it comes to Hubbard, with signed and numbered copies often selling for more than $1000. As an additional benefit, because he owned his own printing company, Hubbard printed his books on beautiful paper or vellum, often with leather covers. The most valuable copies of Hubbard's books also feature hand-painted illuminations, and are often signed and numbered by the artist. Even these can be more affordable than one might expect; in 2015, a 1901 copy of A Message to Garcia and Thirteen Other Things in near-fine condition that was hand-illuminated and signed by the artist as well as Hubbard sold for only $960.

Another factor to keep in mind when starting to collect Elbert Hubbard pieces is that many of his writings are available in large sets, though not every set is complete. Some sets originally had as many as 20 volumes, though the number of surviving volumes and their conditions will determine the set's price.

Hubbard, Elbert. One Day. Arena Publishing Co., Boston (1893). Full title: One Day: A Tale of the Prairies; monochromevignette illustrations.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Journal of Koheleth. The Roycroft Printing Shop, East Aurora, New York (1896). Full title: The Journal of Koheleth: Being a Reprint of the Book of Ecclesiastes with an Essay by Elbert Hubbard; in two parts, theStudy and theJournal of Koheleth; 700 numbered copies; signed by Elbert Hubbard; decorated initial letters; printed on handmade paper.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Song of Songs. The Roycroft Printing Shop, East Aurora, New York (1896). Full title: The Song of Songs, Which is Solomon's Being a Reprint and a Study; 600 numbered and signed copies;And here, then, is finished this noble book, being a study by Elbert Hubbard and reprint of the Song of Songs: Which is Solomons, taken from the Holy Bible. Printed after the manner of the Venetian with no power save that of human muscle by Harry P. Taber, at the Roycroft Printing shop, that is in East Aurora, New York. Begun on September the third day, MDCCCXCV, and finished ---Thank God! --- on January the Twentieth day, MDCCCXCVI.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys Made to the Homes of Ruskin and Turner. The Roycroft Printing Shop, East Aurora, New York (1896). Full title: These Pages Recount Little Journeys Made to the Homes of Ruskin and Turner; 12 photogravure reproductions of artwork by J.M.W. Turner, with captioned tissue guards; watercolor painting on the title page; 25 hand-colored initial letters; tipped-in photogravure portrait of Hubbard; vignette tailpieces on two pages; 473 numbered copies; printed on handmade Whatman paper; signed by Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Famous Women. The Roycroft Printing Shop, East Aurora, New York (1898). Full title: Little Journeys to the Homes of Famous Women: Wherein are Facts biographical and Critical, with Other Mention More Intimate, Gathered in Stray Places on Various Sunshiny Days; printed on handmade paper; 470 copies; decorated initial letters, hand-colored; signed by Elbert Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. A Message to Garcia. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1899). 980 numbered copies; signed by Hubbard; printed on handmade paper.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of English Authors. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1900). Illustrated by Lulu Reed; hand-painted initial letters and title page designed by Samuel Warner; biographies include those of: William Morris, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Burns, John Milton, and Samuel Johnson; frontispieces portraits before each biography; photogravure of Elbert Hubbard; 947 copies; signed by Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. The City of Tagaste, and A Dream and a Prophecy. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1900). Illustrated and colored by hand, including borders and colophon, by Minnie Gardner; published under the pseudonym,Fra Elbertus; photogravure portrait frontispiece of Hubbard; 940 numbered copies; printed on handmade paper; signed by Elbert Hubbard and Minnie Gardner.

Browning, Robert. So Here Then Is the Last Ride. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1900). Full title: So Here Then are the Preachments Entitled The City of Tagaste, and a Dream and a Prophecy; reprint of Robert Browning's poemThe Last Ride Together; illuminated by Harriet Robarge; printed on vellum.

Hubbard, Elbert. A Message to Garcia. The Roycrofters, East Aurora (1901). Full title: A Message to Garcia and Thirteen Other Things; handpainted color illustrations by Omma Johnson; published under the pseudonymFra Elbertus; handpainted color drop-caps on chapter heads and last page chapter designs by Edith Andrews; 450 copies; printed on handmade Imperial Japanese vellum; signed by author.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Musicians: Schumann. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1901). Frontispiece portrait of Schumann; woodblock title page vignette and decorated initial letters by Samuel Warner; hand-bound; hand-illuminated; printed on handmade paper.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Musicians. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1901). Six portraits, titles, decorations and initial letters hand-painted in color by May Bakerp; 940 copies; signed by Hubbard and illuminators Anna Knights and Fannie Griffin; illuminated by hand; printed on handmade paper with the Roycroft watermark; includes biographies of: Wagner, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn, Lizst, Beethoven, Handel, Brahms, and others.

Hubbard, Elbert. Old John Burroughs. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1901). Watercolor on last page handpainted and signed by Clara Schlegel; 12 copies; printed on handmade deckle-edged paper, bearing Roycroft watermarks; illustrated and colored by hand; hand painted colophon initialed by Hubbard; illuminated initial letter; two handpainted watercolors in margins; published under the pseudonymFra Elbertus; signed and inscribed by the author.

Hubbard, Elbert. Contemplations. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1902). Full title: Contemplations: Being Several Short Essays, Helpful Sermonettes, Epigrams and Orphic Sayings Selected From the Writings of Elbert Hubbard By Heloise Hawthorne; ornaments designed by Richard Kruger; pressed by Otto Franz; composition by Charles Rosen; illustrations; imitation snakeskin slipcase, lined in golden fleece; 100 numbered copies; printed on Japanese Vellum; signed by Elbert Hubbard; two photos of Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Philosophers: Kant. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1904). Decorated borders and initial letters; portrait by Otto J. Schneider.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Philosophers: Aristotle. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1904). Frontispiece.

Hubbard, Elbert. Justinian and Theodora. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1906). Full title: Justinian and Theodora: A Drama Being a Chapter of History and the One Gleam of Light During the Dark Ages; co-authored with Alice Hubbard; double-spread illuminated title page, headpieces, decorative initial letters and colophon designed by Dard Hunter; two portraits of Elbert and Alice Hubbard; 106 copies; printed on handmade paper from Japanese vellum, with the Roycroft watermark; signed by Elbert Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Book of the Roycrofters. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1907). Seventeen black and white tipped-in photographs; color drawing on title page and at the end of the book.

Hubbard, Elbert. A Little Journey By Elbert Hubbard. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1907). Full title: This Then is a William Morris Book: Being A Little Journey By Elbert Hubbard, and Some Letters, Heretofore Unpublished, Written To His Friend and Fellow Worker, Robert Thomson, All Throwing A Side-Light, More or Less, On The Man and His Times; 203 numbered copies, signed by Hubbard; two portraits; contains facsimile letter; printed on Japan vellum.

HUBBARD, Elbert. White Hyacinths. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1907). Full title: So Here Cometh White Hyacinths: A Book Of The Heart; double title page, initial letters, decorations, and colophon designed by Dard Hunter; 207 copies; signed and numbered by Hubbard; printed on Roycroft watermarked handmade paper; photogravure double frontispiece of Hubbard and his wife, on vellum.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Complete Writings. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1908). The complete collectedLittle Journey books; eachjourney illustrated with an etched portrait by Gaspard or Schneider; title page and three-color decorated initial letters designed by Dard Hunter; twenty volumes; 1000 sets; each volume hand-numbered and signed by Hubbard; two pages of Hubbard's original manuscript for one of the books bound into first volume; printed on handmade paper with the Roycroft watermark.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Tale of Two Tailors. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1909). Full title: The Tale of Two Tailors, Which the Same has the Unique Quality of being True; tinted title page border designed and initialed by Dard Hunter; decorated initial letters and tailpieces; 1500 numbered copies; signed by Hubbard.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Book of Business. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1913). Printed on handmade paper; frontispiece portrait of Hubbard; contains chapters:Business as a Fine Art,Business as a Civilizer,Bad Breaks in Business,On Hiring Away Other Folks' Help,The Chesty Employee,Art of Advertising, andAre You Useful or Useless?

Hubbard, Elbert. So Here then Cometh Pig-Pen Pete. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1914). Full title: So Here Cometh Pig Pen Pete Or Some Chums Of Mine: Being Stories Truthfully Related By Elbert Hubbard About Some Of Our Dumb Brothers To Whom We Are Much Beholden For Needed Examples Of Love, Loyalty, Honesty, And Virtue; double-spread hand-colored title page, headpieces, tailpieces, and decorated initial letters designed by Dard Hunter.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Complete Writings. The Roycroft Shop, New York (1914). Author's Edition; 20 volumes; frontispiece; illustrated; 1000 sets; signedElbert Hubbard, however actually signed by Hubbard's assistants.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1916). Edited and arranged by Fred Bann; painted borders and initial letters by Roycroft artists, fourteen volumes; illustrated in black and white, includimg frontispieces; first volume contains publisher's preface and autobiography by Hubbard;

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1922). Fourteen volumes; includes guidebook; frontispieces and other illustrations.

Hubbard, Elbert. Another Little Journey. Davis and Geck, Inc., Brooklyn (1923). First printing; printed signature of Hubbard; 26 illustrated pages; statement in back of the book:This is probably the last unpublished manuscript written by Elbert Hubbard before he went on his last little journey.

Hubbard, Elbert. Elbert Hubbard's Scrap Book. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1923). Cover illustration on box.

Hubbard, Elbert. Selected Writings. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1923). Fourteen volumes; black and white and color mounted plates.

Hubbard, Elbert. A Little Journey to the Home of Benjamin Franklin. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1924). Full title: Poor Richards Almanack and Other Papers and A Little Journey to the Home of Benjamin Franklin; frontispiece; 20 copies; printed on Japan vellum; signed by Elbert Hubbard II.

Hubbard, Elbert. A Message to Garcia. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, New York (1926). 495 copies on Japan vellum; signed by Elbert Hubbard II; three original pages of an Elbert Hubbard manuscript from another work tipped in; illuminated by hand.

Hubbard, Elbert. The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1927). Full title: The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard: Mottoes, Epigrams, Short Essays, Passages, Orphic Sayings and Preachments; gathered by Elbert Hubbard II; decorated initial letters; indexed.

Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to The Homes of The Great. William H. Wise and Co., New York (1928). Edited and arranged by Fred Bann; 15 volumes (including guidebook); hand-decorated initial letters and borders; portraits; Volume I: Good Men and Great, Volume II: Great Women, Volume. III: American Statesmen, Volume IV: Eminent Painters, Volume V: English Authors, Volume VI: Eminent Artists, Volume VII: Eminent Orators, Volume VIII: Great Philosophers, Volume IX: Great Reformers, Volume X: Great Teachers, Volume XI: Great Businessmen, Volume XII: Great Scientists, Volume XIII: Great Lovers, Volume XIV: Great Musicians, and Volume XV is the Little Journeys Guide Book.

Hubbard, Elbert. Selected Writings. Wm. H. Wise and Co., New York (1928). Tipped-in frontispieces; fourteen volumes; portraits of Elbert Hubbard; color illustrations; hand colored half-title:This copy of the Memorial Edition in fourteen volumes of Elbert Hubbard's Selected Writings has been specially prepared by the Roycrofters in their shops which are in East Aurora, Erie County, New York.


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