The
February 2020 meeting examined books within series. The group distinguished between series (individual
titles released sequentially over a period of time) and sets (all volumes released
together) and focused on series. Members
brought books from a series either by a single author or an edited
series by a publisher. Selections ranged
from fictional detective serials and adventure stories to non-fictional Bible
commentaries and coveted classics such as The Rivers of America series. For large series, only one or two volumes were shown.
Nonfiction
The Rivers of America series (1937-1974)
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| The Rivers of America series |
The Rivers
of America series was published over a thirty-seven-year span, from 1937
through 1974. A total of 65 volumes were
published by Farrar & Rinehart (1937-1946), Rinehart & Company
(1946-1960), and Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1960-1974). One of the most enticing histories of
Americana ever written, each telling the story of the continent's earliest
highways, its rivers. The series was
written mainly by fiction writers who studied their history and then imparted
the river with a storyline making it the main character. Each volume tells the stories of the people
who traveled on the rivers, lived on their banks, and developed cities around
them.
Shown
(below) are the first and last volumes in the series, in their original dust
jackets. The dust jacket's original art
helps make the collection especially appealing.
Coffin,
Robert P. Tristram. The Kennebec:
Cradle of the Americans. New York:
Farrar & Rinehart, 1937.
Illustrated by Maitland de Gogorza.
The first volume of The Rivers of America series.
Sanborn,
Margaret. The American: River of El
Dorado. New York: Holt, Rinehart
& Winston, 1974. Illustrated by
Jerry Helmrich. The last volume of The
Rivers of America series.
This
collection (pictured above) took 38 years to complete, each in fine condition with dust jacket,
first editions, some signed by the authors.
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| Kennebec: Cradle of Americans (1937) and The American: River of El Dorado (1974) |
If I Had Only One Sermon to Preach series (1927-1929)
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| If I Had Only One Sermon to Preach |
This
series was inspired by a challenge by the Church Advertising Department of the
International Advertising Association in 1927 to American clergy to address the
theme "If I had only one sermon to preach" and discuss it with
"utmost frankness" on a particular Sunday in Lent. The event drew nationwide attention and was
covered by newspapers throughout the country.
Some of the sermons preached during that event are included in the
American Series book. The popularity of
the American book inspired an English response.
A third volume explored the topic of immortality and included
contributions by both American and English ministers.
Stelzle,
Charles, ed. If I Had Only One Sermon
to Preach: American Series. New
York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1927.
First edition. Sermons by twenty-one
American ministers.
Marchant,
James, ed. If I Had Only One Sermon
to Preach: English Series. New York:
Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1928. First
edition. Sermons by twenty English
ministers.
Stidger,
William L., ed. If I Had Only One
Sermon to Preach on Immortality. New
York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1929.
First edition. Twenty-three sermons
on the topic of immortality.Fiction
The Stephanie Plum series (1994-present)
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| The Stephanie Plum series, books 1-26 |
In the
first 26 books of this series (as of the time of this writing), Janet Evanovich
uses her protagonist, Stephanie Plum, a down-on-her luck bounty hunter, and her
dysfunctional New Jersey family to create discord and misadventure as a backdrop
for hilarious antics and hijinks. The
case-driven plot of each novel drives the ongoing sexual tensions, jealousies,
and down-home family dynamics of Plum's daily life. The 27th title (forthcoming) will complete
the author's current contract with the publisher; readers will have to wait and
see if the Plum adventures will continue.
Evanovich,
Janet. One for the Money. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994. First edition. The first title in the Stephanie Plum series. Signed by the author on the title page.
Evanovich,
Janet. Twisted Twenty-Six. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2019. First edition. The most recent title in the Stephanie Plum series. Signed by the author on the title page.
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| The first and most recent (to date) titles in the Stephanie Plum series |
The Montague Siblings series (2017-2020)
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| Mackenzi Lee's Montague Siblings series |
The Montague
Siblings series is a trilogy of young adult novels (plus a novella) set in
Eighteenth Century Europe. As a writer
and historian, author Mackenzi Lee seeks to bring minority narratives to historical
fiction and non-fiction. The Montague
Siblings adventure stories, therefore, also explore the roles of gender,
sexuality, race, and medical conditions in the lives of the main
characters. The final volume of the trilogy,
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, is scheduled to be
released in August 2020.
Lee,
Mackenzi. The Gentleman's Guide to
Vice and Virtue. New York: Katherine
Tegen Books, 2017. First edition. The first book of the Montague Siblings trilogy.
_____. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2018. First edition. The second book of the Montague Siblings trilogy.
_____. The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2019. First edition. A novella of the Montague Siblings series. Most likely, the original ending to The
Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.
The Wicked Years series (1995-2011)
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| Gregory Maguire's The Wicked Years |
In the
Wicked Years series, Gregory Maguire offers a revisionist story of L. Frank
Baum's Oz books. Maguire's reimagining
of the central characters of the land of Oz tells the back stories of the
characters and shows how they became their characteristic namesakes. Written as something of a prequel, the four
books ultimately bring the reader right to the point where Baum's stories
begin, with the arrival of Dorothy in the land of Oz.
Two
members both showed signed first editions of the four books of The Wicked
Years.
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| Signed copies of the Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz |
Maguire,
Gregory. Wicked: The Life and Times
of the Wicked Witch of the West. New
York: Regan Books, 1995. First
edition. Signed by the author on the
half title page.
_____. Son of a Witch. New York: Regan Books, 2005. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
_____. A Lion Among Men. New York: William Morrow, 2008. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page.
_____. Out of Oz. New York: William Morrow, 2011. First edition. Signed by the author on the half title page.
