RR Donnelley | Lakeside Classics
It was in 1903 that Thomas E. Donnelley, the second generation Donnelley, started the tradition of the printing and distribution of the Lakeside Classic volumes.
Thomas E. Donnelley had a “novel” idea for a gift to give to his employees. A book. Not just any book. A book that is not only representative of the fine craftsmanship that is put into each book, but also a book that actually is representative of Americana. This book, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, was the first in the Lakeside Classic series. These books, especially the early editions, are very sought after by collectors.
Every twenty-five years the color of the binding was changed as well as the type style to keep up with modern techniques. The size of the books have remained unchanged at 4½ x 7½, which is the result of folding a standard sheet of paper (25″ x 38″) 4X to 64 pages per each sheet. This size is called sixteenmo (16mo).
The themes of the books have evolved naturally. The first eight consisting of famous speeches, then almost immediately followed with a fine series of Chicago first-person narratives, then Illinois, and finally to include all of America. The series has even included American experiences outside of the borders as well.
Year
|
Title
|
Author
|
Bindiing
|
---|---|---|---|
1903
|
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
|
Green
|
|
1904
|
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Lincoln
|
Green
|
|
1905
|
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from A. Johnson to T. Roosevelt
|
Green
|
|
1906
|
Fruits of Solitude
|
Green
|
|
1907
|
Memorable American Speeches I. The Colonial Period
|
Green
|
|
1908
|
Memorable American Speeches II. Democracy and Nationality
|
Green
|
|
1909
|
Memorable American Speeches III. Slavery
|
Green
|
|
1910
|
Memorable American Speeches IV. Secession, War, Reconstruction
|
Green
|
|
1911
|
The Autobiography of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard
|
Green
|
|
1912
|
Reminiscences of Early Chicago
|
Green
|
|
1913
|
Reminiscences of Chicago During the Forties and Fifties
|
Green
|
|
1914
|
Reminiscences of Chicago During the Civil War
|
Green
|
|
1915
|
Reminiscences of Chicago During the Great Fire
|
Green
|
|
1916
|
Life of Black Hawk
|
Green
|
|
1917
|
The Indian Captivity of O. M. Spencer
|
Green
|
|
1918
|
Pictures of Illinois One Hundred Years Ago
|
Green
|
|
1919
|
A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois
|
Green
|
|
1920
|
The Conquest of the Illinois
|
Green
|
|
1921
|
Alexander Henry’s Travels and Adventures in the Years 1760-1776
|
Green
|
|
1922
|
John Long’s Voyages and Travels in the Years 1768-1788
|
Green
|
|
1923
|
Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River
|
Green
|
|
1924
|
The Fur Hunters of the Far West
|
Alexander Ross
|
Green
|
1925
|
The Southwestern Expedition of Zebulon M. Pike
|
Green
|
|
1926
|
Commerce of the Prairies
|
Josiah Gregg
|
Green
|
1927
|
Death Valley in ’49
|
William L. Manly
|
Green
|
1928
|
Bidwell’s Echoes of the Past – Steele’s In Camp and Cabin
|
General George A. Custer
|
Red
|
1929
|
Kendall’s Texan Santa Fe Expedition
|
Red
|
|
1930
|
Pattie’s Personal Narrative
|
Red
|
|
1931
|
Alexander Mackenzie’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 1793
|
Red
|
|
1932
|
Wau-Bun, The "Early Day" in the North-West
|
Mrs. John H. Kinzie
|
Red
|
1933
|
Forty Years a Fur Trader
|
Charles Larpenteur
|
Red
|
1934
|
Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
|
Red
|
|
1935
|
Kit Carson’s Autobiography
|
Red
|
|
1936
|
A True Picture of Emigration
|
Rebecca Burlend
|
Red
|
1937
|
The Bark Covered House
|
William Nowlin
|
Red
|
1938
|
The Border and the Buffalo
|
John R. Cook
|
Red
|
1939
|
Vanished Arizona
|
Red
|
|
1940
|
War on the Detroit
|
Thomas Verchères de
Boucherville and James Foster |
Red
|
1941
|
Army Life in Dakota
|
De Trobriand
|
Red
|
1942
|
The Early Day of Rock Island and Davenport
|
J. W. Spencer and J. M. D. Burrows
|
Red
|
1943
|
Six Years with the Texas Rangers
|
James B. Gillett
|
Red
|
1944
|
Growing Up with Southern Illinois
|
Daniel Harmon Brush
|
Red
|
1945
|
A History of Illinois, I
|
Gov. Thomas Ford
|
Red
|
1946
|
A History of Illinois, II
|
Gov. Thomas Ford
|
Red
|
1947
|
The Western Country in the 17th Century
|
Lamothe Cadillac and Pierre Liette
|
Red
|
1948
|
Across the Plains in Forty-nine
|
Reuben Cole Shaw
|
Red
|
1949
|
Pictures of Gold Rush California
|
Red
|
|
1950
|
Absaraka, Home of the Crows
|
Mrs. Margaret I. Carrington
|
Red
|
1951
|
The Truth about Geronimo
|
Britton Davis
|
Red
|
1952
|
My Life on the Plains
|
General George A. Custer
|
Red
|
1953
|
Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans
|
General Thomas James
|
Blue
|
1954
|
A Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America
|
Gabriel Franchère
|
Blue
|
1955
|
War-Path and Bivouac
|
John F. Finerty
|
Blue
|
1956
|
Milford’s Memoir
|
Louis Leclerc de Milford
|
Blue
|
1957
|
Uncle Dick Wootton
|
Howard Louis Conard
|
Blue
|
1958
|
The Siege of Detroit in 1763
|
Blue
|
|
1959
|
Among the Indians
|
Henry A. Boller
|
Blue
|
1960
|
Hardtack and Coffee
|
John D. Billings
|
Blue
|
1961
|
Outlines from the Outpost
|
John Esten Cooke
|
Blue
|
1962
|
Colorado Volunteers in New Mexico, 1862
|
Ovando J. Hollister
|
Blue
|
1963
|
Private Smith’s Journal
|
Blue
|
|
1964
|
Two Views of Gettysburg
|
Sir. A. J. L. Fremantle and Frank Haskell
|
Blue
|
1965
|
Dakota War Whoop
|
Harriet E. Bishop McConkey
|
Blue
|
1966
|
Honolulu
|
Laura Fish Judd
|
Blue
|
1967
|
Three Years in the Klondike
|
Jeremiah Lynch
|
Blue
|
1968
|
Two Years’ Residence on the English Prairie of Illinois
|
John Woods
|
Blue
|
1969
|
John D. Young and the Colorado Gold Rush
|
Blue
|
|
1970
|
My Experiences in the West
|
John S. Collins
|
Blue
|
1971
|
Narratives of Colonial America, 1704-1765
|
Blue
|
|
1972
|
Pioneers
|
Noah Harris Letts
and Thomas Allen Banning |
Blue
|
1973
|
Excursion Through America
|
Nicolaus Mohr
|
Blue
|
1974
|
A Frenchman in Lincoln’s America, Volume I
|
Ernest Duvergier de Hauranne
|
Blue
|
1975
|
A Frenchman in Lincoln’s America, Volume II
|
Ernest Duvergier de Hauranne
|
Blue
|
1976
|
Narratives of the American Revolution
|
Blue
|
|
1977
|
Advocates and Adversaries
|
Robert R. Rose
|
Blue
|
1978
|
Hell among the Yearlings
|
Edmund Randolph
|
Brown
|
1979
|
A Frontier Doctor
|
Henry F. Hoyt
|
Brown
|
1980
|
Mrs. Hill’s Journal-Civil War Reminiscences
|
Sarah Jane Full Hill
|
Brown
|
1981
|
Skyward
|
Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd
|
Brown
|
1982
|
Helldorado
|
William M. Breakenridge
|
Brown
|
1983
|
Mark Twain’s West
|
Brown
|
|
1984
|
Frontier Fighter
|
George W. Coe
|
Brown
|
1985
|
Buckskin and Blanket Days
|
Thomas Henry Tibbles
|
Brown
|
1986
|
Autobiography of an English Soldier in the United States Army
|
George Ballentine
|
Brown
|
1987
|
Life of Tom Horn
|
Brown
|
|
1988
|
Children of Ol’ Man River
|
Billy Bryant
|
Brown
|
1989
|
Westward Journeys
|
Jesse A. Applegate and Lavinia Honeyman Porter
|
Brown
|
1990
|
Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians
|
Fanny Kelly
|
Brown
|
1991
|
We Pointed Them North
|
E.C. "Teddy Blue" Abbott and Helena Huntington Smith
|
Brown
|
1992
|
A Texas Ranger
|
N.A. Jennings
|
Brown
|
1993
|
From Mexican Days to the Gold Rush
|
James W. Marshall and E. Gould Buffum
|
Brown
|
1994
|
My Life East and West
|
William S. Hart
|
Brown
|
1995
|
The Logbook of the Captain’s Clerk
|
John S. Sewell
|
Brown
|
1996
|
Arctic Explorations
|
Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.N.
|
Brown
|
1997
|
Fighting the Flying Circus
|
Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker
|
Brown
|
1998
|
Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House
|
Brown
|
|
1999
|
Revolutionary Days
|
Brown
|
|
2000
|
The Americanization of Edward Bok
|
Edward Bok
|
Brown
|
2001
|
From the Deep Woods to Civilization
|
Brown
|
|
2002
|
Narrative of the Coronado Expedition
Relación de la Jornada de Cíbola (Spanish) |
Pedro De Castaneda
|
Brown
|
2003
|
The Rough Riders
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
Turquoise
|
2004
|
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African.
|
Turquoise
|
|
2005
|
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from W.H. Taft to G.W. Bush
|
Turquoise
|
|
2006
|
Twenty Years Before The Mast
|
Charles Erskine
|
Turquoise
|
2007
|
Narratives of Barbary Captivity
|
Turquoise
|
|
2008
|
Jailed for Freedom
|
Turquoise
|
|
2009
|
Plymouth Plantation
|
Turquoise
|
|
2010
|
Travels Through South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
|
William Bartram
|
Turquoise
|
2011
|
The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Of 1906
|
Turquoise
|
|
2012
|
The Englishwoman in America
|
Isabella Bird
|
Turquoise
|
2013
|
Narrative of the Narvaez Expedition
|
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
|
Turquoise
|
2014
|
And They Thought We Wouldn’t Fight
|
Floyd Gibbons
|
Turquoise
|
2015
|
The Race Around the World
|
Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland
|
Turquoise
|
2016
|
Through the Brazilian Wilderness
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
Turquoise
|
2017
|
Sailing Around the World
|
Joshua Slocum
|
TBD
|