latviski
Our search for contemporaneous sources about Latvia uncovered The World and Its People, Part 42, featuring profiles of the nations of the Caucasus: Georgia and Azerbaijan; Poland, focusing separately on the south and north; and the new Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Each profile is several pages long and features mostly engraved illustrations, including one of bison roaming wild in Lithuania!
We have included Finland, as the fourth post-WWI Baltic republic, from an online source.
Read The World and Its People
About the work
Our sold-by-subscription-only installment is a budget-friendly slice (25 cents) of The World and Its People: Or, a Comprehensive Tour of All Lands, published as a seven-volume set. The installment consists of a single signature, untrimmed, saddle-stitched with a jacket. We could tell ours had never been read because we had to cut the paper to separate the pages.
Subscription series were a popular way to publish and distribute works in the 20th century, particularly in the early decades. This model allowed publishers to produce large-scale projects, such as encyclopedias and multi-volume histories, that would have been prohibitively expensive to publish all at once.
By selling subscriptions in advance, publishers could secure funding for the entire project and spread the cost of production over time. This model also provided a steady income stream, reducing the financial risk associated with large-scale publishing ventures.
For subscribers, subscription series offered several advantages. They received regular installments of the work, often at a discounted price compared to buying individual volumes. This made it easier for individuals to acquire expensive works over time. Additionally, subscription series often included exclusive content or special features for subscribers only.
A revised edition was published in 1934.
Charles Francis Horne, author
Despite Charles Francis Horne's↗ prolific output of more than 100 books, there is scant information available on his life and career, as indicated by the brevity of his Wikipedia biography:
Charles Francis Horne (January 12, 1870–September 13, 1942) was an American author. He wrote or edited more than one hundred books, mostly multi-volume history works. He was a Professor of English at City College of New York.
Horne was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died in Annapolis, Maryland.
We did locate Horne's obituary in the New York Times (September 16, 1942), which we've transcribed. By any measure, he was an individual of prodigious intellect and academic accomplishment.
CHARLES F. HORNE, RETIRED EDUCATOR
Former Head of City College English Department Dies in Annapolis, Md.
ON FACULTY 43 YEARS
Author of 100 Volumes, Mostly Concerned With History-Edited Legion Works
Charles Frances Horne, Professor Emeritus of English at the the College of the City of New York and widely known educator, author and editor, died at his home at Annapolis, Md., on Sunday, according to word received yesterday. He was 72 years old.
Professor Horne was chairman of the English Department at City College from 1935 until 1938. He retired in 1940 after serving on the faculty since 1897.
Author of 100 Volumes
Prominent in educational and literary circles, Professor Horne was the author of more than 100 volumes, most of them on historical themes. He was the author and editor of several works for the American Legion, among them being American history textbooks and an official history issued by the Legion.
Dr. Horne was the descendent of a family active in the educational, political and patriotic life of New England since 1630 when John Horne came to this country during the Puritan migration and helped found Boston. The Horne family has been represented in the Legislatures of most of the New England States. He was also descended from General Joseph Warren, a hero of Bunker Hill.
Before coming to City College as an instructor he taught for five years in Florida and in the West. While at City College he also lectured at Yeshiva College and was a special lecturer for the New York City Board of Education on historical and literary movements. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, The American Historical Association, Modern Language Association and Phi Gamma Delta.
Born on Jan. 12, 1870, in Jersey City, Dr. Horne was the son of George E. and Margaret A. Horne. He attended City College and obtained a degree of Bachelor of Science in 1889. In 1897 he received a Master's Degree from the college and in 1905 he was awarded is Ph. D. from New York University.
Served in World War
Serving with the A. E. F. in France, he was a member of the Educational Corps of the Army. Among the books Professor Horne wrote after the war were "Official Uncensored Source Records of the Great Events of the Great World War." The books, which the national executive committee of the American Legion had a financial interest in, caused a controversy between the committee and the New York State Department of the Legion, which refused to have anything to do with them.
While chairman of the English Department, he refused to recommend the reappointment of Morris Schappes, then an English tutor, who last year was convicted of perjury as a result of the Rapp–Coudert investigation The Board of Higher Education, however, later voted to retain Schappes's services.
Dr. Horne was married to Edith Sarah Durham on Feb. 14, 1896. His wife died in 1934 leaving three children, Winifred Durham Horne, Enid Warren Horne, and Charles Francis Horne Jr., now a commander in the Navy.
A funeral service will be held tomorrow morning at 10 A. M. at Trinity Cemetery, 155th Street and Broadway, and will be conducted by the Rev. Donald R. Woodward, curate of the Chapel of the Intercession.2
Francis R. Niglutsch, art director
Francis R. Niglutsch appears to have acted both as art director and at times also publisher for others of Charles Francis Horne's works, such as The Bible and Its Story, Taught By One Thousand Picture Lessons↗.
Artist, photographer, unknown
Unfortunately, our "Part 42" of the whole is simply a section of pages of the larger work, so we don't know the artist who created the engravings. Nor do we know the originator of photographs of Jelgava ("Mitau") or Helsinki ("Helsingfors"). Ewing Galloway↗ is credited; however that is his agency. Galloway was a journalist and photo editor who ran the Ewing Galloway Agency in New York. The lack of company records means we will never know who was behind the camera. The Galloway archive is held by Syracuse University, but appears to be just a tiny fraction of the thousands of images Galloway's agency once possessed.
Read more
- Ewing Galloway Collection of Photographs↗, retrieved November 3, 2024
| 1 | AI facial restoration of newsprint photo |
| 2 | Charles Francis Horne obituary↗, at New York Times, retrieved November 3, 2024. |
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