Five editions of Lakeside Classics - all new in publisher's shrink wrap:

"Twenty Years Before the Mast", Charles Erskine 2006, here is the 104th annual edition of the R.R. Donnelley Lakeside Press Classic. These handsome, high quality, hard cover books are given out to Donnelley employees and their associates only once each year at Christmas time. A different book has been issued each year since 1903. This new 2006 volume is "Twenty Years Before the Mast" by Charles Erskine. It recounts the travels of Admiral Charles Wilkes between 1838 -1841.

“The Life of Olaudah Equiano” 2004 New. In original shrink wrap.

A remarkable account of early slavery and later freedom,The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself, is the 1789 autobiography of former slave Olaudah Equiano. This memoir is a slave narrative, travel tale, and spiritual journey all-in-one. His life is a tale of terror as well as an exciting adventure.

This fascinating account describes Equiano's abduction from Africa at the age of ten and the years spent in labor on slave ships. It documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom in 1766. What follows is success in business, in literacy, and a move to becoming an influential African advocate of abolishing the slave trade in Britain during the late 18th century. Equiano’s degraded youth and respected later life in England is told with verve and sophistication in this spirited quest for fulfillment.

A real masterpiece and a book of historical importance, the book was one of the first widely read slave narratives and was a precursor to other such slave narratives as that of Frederick Douglass. The work has proven so influential in the study of African and African-American literature that it is frequently taught in both English literature and history classrooms in universities.

“The Rough Riders”, Theodore Roosevelt 2003 New. In original shrink wrap.

Navy Secretary Roosevelt finally got his wish: a regiment of fine Ivy League gentlemen and western frontier cowboys and sharp shooters to kick the Spaniards out of Cuba. However, it is anything but a fun big game hunting expedition: The US Armed Forces are marred by breathtaking disorganization, their logistics are atrocious and the Spaniards are better armed than Roosevelt's regiment; they are also better fed.

The Americans show great courage in battle, but casualties from combat, lack of food and medical supplies are horrific. They would have been even worse had the Gatling guns not made a key contribution ( Roosevelt's assessment). One wonders what would have happened in WWI had the Cuban campaign not taken place before.

Through it all, Roosevelt is equal to his greater than life image, supremely self confident, relishing the company of other risk takers, determined to test his own courage.

“The Americanization of Edward Bok” 2000 New. In original shrink wrap.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography charmingly chronicles the life of Edward Bok, the longtime editor of The Ladies Home Journal and a noted philanthropist. Bok wrote of his eventful life, "Every life has some interest and significance; mine, perhaps, a special one. Here was a little Dutch boy unceremoniously set down in America unable to make himself understood or even to know what persons were saying; his education was extremely limited, practically negligible; and yet, by curious decree of fate, he was destined to write, for a period of years, to the largest body of readers ever addressed by an American editor. . . ." Perhaps Bok's success was due to his willingness to champion progressive causes to the wide readership of The Ladies Home Journal. Bok advocated women's suffrage, saving the environment, public sex education, education on prenatal care and children's health, and pacifism. EDWARD BOK (1863-1930), American Pulitzer Prize-winning author, was born in Den Helder, The Netherlands, and came to the United States in 1869. He edited The Ladies Home Journal for 30 years. During that time, it became the first magazine to reach one million subscribers. Bok also wrote books such as Successward and America Give Me a Chance. He established a number of civic programs and awards, including the American Peace Award, the Harvard Advertising Awards, and the Philadelphia Commission.

“From the Deep Woods to Civilization”, Eastman 2001 New. In original shrink wrap. W shareholders Christmas Greeting

This stimulating book is one of the few that really deserve the over-worked term, a human document." — Publishers Weekly. In the first of his memoirs, the popular Indian Boyhood, Charles Alexander Eastman recounted his traditional upbringing among the Santee Sioux. From the Deep Woods to Civilization resumes his story, recounting his abrupt departure from tribal life at age 15 to pursue his education among whites — a path that led him to certification as a medical doctor, the publication of many successful books, and a lifetime of tireless efforts to benefit his native culture. Through his social work and his writings, Eastman became one of the best-known Indians of the early twentieth century and an important force in interpreting and relating the spiritual depth and greatness of the Native American traditions.Eastman became a physician in hopes of serving the Native American community; he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth in 1887 and a medical degree from Boston University in 1890. He began college just a few months after the Battle of Little Bighorn, and his first job as a physician at Pine Ridge Reservation coincided with the Ghost Dance uprisings that culminated in the U. S. Army's attack at Wounded Knee. The only doctor available to assist the massacre's victims, Eastman writes movingly of the event's appalling inhumanity and injustice. Afterward, he lobbied Capitol Hill on behalf of the Sioux and devoted the rest of his life, both in and out of government service, to helping Indians adapt to the white world while retaining the best of their own culture. His autobiography resonates with the impassioned thoughts and experiences of a profound contributor to the richness of American culture.

All Lakeside Classics have the same, elegant format: gilt top pages, spine and Lakeside’s logo on cloth covers.  Beautifully designed text.

The Lakeside Press Classics series was started in 1903 by Thomas E. Donnelley, then president of RR Donnelley & Sons Company and son of the founder. Thomas E. Donnelley believed that a simple book, dignified and well designed, would be an appropriate holiday gift. The collection of Lakeside Classics is the longest, continuously running series of Americana. Every year since 1903 their publisher, The Lakeside Press an imprint of R. R. Donnelley & Son, has produced these carefully bound books as Christmas gifts to their employees, stockholders, vendors and business associates. The books in the series have never been sold by R. R. Donnelley, so their sale only occurs when the books have entered the secondary market.

Every twenty-five years the color of the binding has changed.   From 1903 to 1927 the publisher used a dark green cloth to cover the boards (now often referred to as the "greenies".)  From 1928 to 1952 there was a red cloth covering; from 1953 to 1977 a dark blue cloth was employed; from 1978 to 2002 a dark brown cloth was employed. In December of 2003 the publishers again changed the cloth binding to a blue turquoise color to mark the 101st year of Lakeside Classics.   All have gilt text stamping on the spine and the front boards have always shown the then current seal for the Lakeside Press.

Reliable sources have informed us that The Lakeside Press produced approximately 1,000 copies of the 1903 edition.  However, for the years 1904 through 1910 the number of printings was reduced to approximately 600 copies for each year.  Reprints of only the first five books in the series were produced for sale under the Reilly & Britton Company imprint.

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