Lakeside Classics


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Lakeside Classics

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Lakeside Classics

The Lakeside Classics series was started in 1903 by Thomas E. Donnelley, then president of RR Donnelley & Sons Company and son of the founder. T.E. believed that a simple book, dignified and well designed, would be an appropriate representation of how RR Donnelley blends technology and craftsmanship to create lasting value.

In the introduction to the first Lakeside Classic, he wrote, "If, in a modest way this volume conveys the idea that machine-made books are not a crime against art, and that books may be plain but good, and good though not costly, its mission has been accomplished."

The basic format of the Lakeside Classics has remained the same for more than 100 years, testifying to the sound design of the first volume. Each 25 years the cover material is changed and type style adjusted to keep pace with current developments in fine book making. Production methods are updated as book manufacturing improvements are introduced. Current editions use electronic page composition, digital scanning and state-of-the-art computer-to-plate technologies.

Many of the early volumes consisted of the speeches and writings of noted Americans. With the publication in 1911 of "The Autobiography of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard", the series took its present character: first-person narratives of American history, usually taken from books long out of print and not easily obtainable. Through the 1980s, the volumes emphasized history on the North American continent, including titles on the Civil War, the American Old West, early exploration and everyday frontier life. During the 1990s, as the company extended its business internationally, the series was expanded to include narratives by Americans with experiences beyond our borders.

While not edited with the historian or serious student in mind, the Classics have benefited from of a line of distinguished historians and university professors and directors of well-known historical societies who have served as editors.

The Lakeside Classics are never sold by the company, but some find their way into the rare book market. A few volumes have become so extremely rare that collectors who own a complete set usually consider themselves most fortunate.

THE LAKESIDE CLASSICS: 1903 - 2007

Vol.	Title	Year
1.	The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin	1903
2.	Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Lincoln	1904
3.	Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from A. Johnson to T. Roosevelt	1905
4.	Fruits of Solitude by William Penn	1906
5.	Memorable American Speeches I. The Colonial Period	1907
6.	Memorable American Speeches II. Democracy and Nationality	1908
7.	Memorable American Speeches III. Slavery	1909
8.	Memorable American Speeches IV. Secession, War, Reconstruction	1910
9.	The Autobiography of Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard	1911
10.	Reminiscences of Early Chicago	1912
11.	Reminiscences of Chicago During the Forties and Fifties	1913
12.	Reminiscences of Chicago During the Civil War	1914
13.	Reminiscences of Chicago During the Great Fire	1915
14.	Life of Black Hawk	1916
15.	The Indian Captivity of O. M. Spencer	1917
16.	Pictures of Illinois One Hundred Years Ago	1918
17.	A Woman's Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Holmes Tillson	1919
18.	The Conquest of the Illinois by George Rogers Clark	1920
19.	Alexander Henry's Travels and Adventures in the Years 1760-1776	1921
20.	John Long's Voyages and Travels in the Years 1768-1788	1922
21.	Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River by Alexander Ross	1923
22.	The Fur Hunters of the Far West by Alexander Ross	1924
23.	The Southwestern Expedition of Zebulon M. Pike	1925
24.	Commerce of the Prairies by Josiah Gregg	1926
25.	Death Valley in '49 by William L. Manly	1927
26.	Bidwell's Echoes of the Past- Steele's In Camp and Cabin	1928
27.	Kendall's Texan Santa Fe Expedition	1929
28.	Pattie's Personal Narrative	1930
29.	Alexander Mackenzie's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 1793	1931
30.	Wau-Bun, The "Early Day" in the North-West by Mrs. John H. Kinzie	1932
31.	Forty Years a Fur Trader by Charles Larpenteur	1933
32.	Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard	1934
33.	Kit Carson's Autobiography	1935
34.	A True Picture of Emigration by Rebecca Burlend	1936
35.	The Bark Covered House by William Nowlin	1937
36.	The Border and the Buffalo by John R. Cook	1938
37.	Vanished Arizona by Martha Summerhayes	1939
38.	War on the Detroit by Thomas Verchères de Boucherville and James Foster	1940
39.	Army Life in Dakota by De Trobriand	1941
40.	The Early Day of Rock Island and Davenport by J. W. Spencer and J. M. D. Burrows	1942
41.	Six Years with the Texas Rangers by James B. Gillett	1943
42.	Growing Up with Southern Illinois by Daniel Harmon Brush	1944
43.	A History of Illinois, I, by Gov. Thomas Ford	1945
44.	A History of Illinois, II, by Gov. Thomas Ford	1946
45.	The Western Country in the 17th Century by Lamothe Cadillac and Pierre Liette	1947
46.	Across the Plains in Forty-nine by Reuben Cole Shaw	1948
47.	Pictures of Gold Rush California	1949
48.	Absaraka, Home of the Crows by Mrs. Margaret I. Carrington	1950
49.	The Truth about Geronimo by Britton Davis	1951
50.	My Life on the Plains by General George A. Custer	1952
51.	Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans by General Thomas James	1953
52.	A Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America by Gabriel Franchère	1954
53.	War-Path and Bivouac by John F. Finerty	1955
54.	Milford's Memoir by Louis Leclerc de Milford	1956
55.	Uncle Dick Wootton by Howard Louis Conard	1957
56.	The Siege of Detroit in 1763	1958
57.	Among the Indians by Henry A. Boller	1959
58.	Hardtack and Coffee by John D. Billings	1960
59.	Outlines from the Outpost by John Esten Cooke	1961
60.	Colorado Volunteers in New Mexico, 1862 by Ovando J. Hollister	1962
61.	Private Smith's Journal	1963
62.	Two Views of Gettysburg by Sir. A. J. L. Fremantle and Frank Haskell	1964
63.	Dakota War Whoop by Harriet E. Bishop McConkey	1965
64.	Honolulu by Laura Fish Judd	1966
65.	Three Years in the Klondike by Jeremiah Lynch	1967
66.	Two Years' Residence on the English Prairie of Illinois by John Woods	1968
67.	John D. Young and the Colorado Gold Rush	1969
68.	My Experiences in the West by John S. Collins	1970
69.	Narratives of Colonial America, 1704-1765	1971
70.	Pioneers by Noah Harris Letts and Thomas Allen Banning, 1825-1865	1972
71.	Excursion Through America by Nicolaus Mohr	1973
72.	A Frenchman in Lincoln's America, Volume I, by Ernest Duvergier de Hauranne	1974
73.	A Frenchman in Lincoln's America, Volume II, by Ernest Duvergier de Hauranne	1975
74.	Narratives of the American Revolution	1976
75.	Advocates and Adversaries by Robert R. Rose	1977
76.	Hell among the Yearlings by Edmund Randolph	1978
77.	A Frontier Doctor by Henry F. Hoyt	1979
78.	Mrs. Hill's Journal-Civil War Reminiscences by Sarah Jane Full Hill	1980
79.	Skyward by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd	1981
80.	Helldorado by William M. Breakenridge	1982
81.	Mark Twain's West	1983
82.	Frontier Fighter by George W. Coe	1984
83.	Buckskin and Blanket Days by Thomas Henry Tibbles	1985
84.	Autobiography of an English Soldier in the United States Army by George Ballentine	1986
85.	Life of Tom Horn	1987
86.	Children of Ol' Man River by Billy Bryant	1988
87.	Westward Journeys by Jesse A. Applegate and Lavinia Honeyman Porter	1989
88.	Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians by Fanny Kelly	1990
89.	We Pointed Them North by E. C. "Teddy Blue" Abbott and Helena Huntington Smith	1991
90.	A Texas Ranger by N. A. Jennings	1992
91.	From Mexican Days to the Gold Rush by James W. Marshall and E. Gould Buffum	1993
92.	My Life East and West by William S. Hart	1994
93.	The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk by John S. Sewell	1995
94.	Arctic Explorations by Elisha Kent Kane, M. D., U. S. N.	1996
95.	Fighting the Flying Circus by Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker	1997
96.	Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley	1998
97.	Revolutionary Days by Princess Julia Cantacuzene née Grant	1999
98.	The Americanization of Edward Bok by Edward W. Bok	2000
99.	From the Deep Woods to Civilization by Charles Alexander Eastman	2001
100.	Narrative of the Coronado Expedition Relación de la Jornada de Cíbola (Spanish) by Pedro de Castañeda	2002
101.	The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt	2003
102.	The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. By Himself	2004
103.	Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States from W.H. Taft to G.W. Bush	2005
104.	Twenty Years Before The Mast by Charles Erskine	2006
105.	Narratives of Barbary Captivity	2007