The St. Nicholas Anthology Value Guide

Edited by Henry Steele Commager, The St. Nicholas Anthology is a significant 1948 compilation that preserved the golden age of American children's literature. It is highly collectible for its curation of legendary contributors like Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling, originally published in the iconic St. Nicholas Magazine.

What Is The St. Nicholas Anthology Worth?

The typical price range for The St. Nicholas Anthology is $18 - $20 based on recent sales. However, values can vary depending on the item's condition, rarity, and other factors such as:

• Condition of the red linen spine and the presence of the original decorative dust jacket significantly impact the $18-$20 price range.
• The presence of any foxing or yellowing on the internal paper pages, common in mid-century cardboard and paper constructions.
• Completeness of the volume, ensuring no pages of the stories or poems by famous authors have been removed or damaged.
• Market demand for specific printings, with the 1948 first edition typically holding more interest than later 1950s reprints.

How to Identify The St. Nicholas Anthology?

• Check for the red cloth linen hardcover binding with the distinctive gold-stamped St. Nicholas emblem on the front.
• Verify the editor is listed as Henry Steele Commager with a publication date starting in 1948 by Random House.
• Look for the characteristic two-column layout and original illustrations reproduced from the late 19th-century magazine issues.
• Confirm the presence of the introduction by May Lamberton Becker, which is standard for authentic first editions of the anthology.

History of The St. Nicholas Anthology

Edited by Henry Steele Commager and published in 1948, this anthology preserved the best content from the late 19th and early 20th-century magazine that shaped American children's literature, featuring legendary contributors like Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling.