Monday, November 8, 2010

The Grace Harlowe Series

The Grace Harlowe series was originally published by Altemus and later was reprinted by Donahue and Saalfield. The Grace Harlowe series consists of four different sets of books which were written by two authors.

The High School Girls Series and the College Girls Series were written by Josephine Chase. The Grace Harlowe Overseas Series and the Grace Harlowe Overland Riders Series were written by Frank Gee (Glines) Patchin according to a post by James Keeline. Both authors wrote the books under the pseudonym Jessie Graham Flower, A. M.

The High School Girls Series


1. Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School, 1910
2. Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School, 1911
3. Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High School, 1911
4. Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High School, 1911

The College Girls Series

1. Grace Harlowe's First Year at Overton College, 1914
2. Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College, 1914
3. Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College, 1914
4. Grace Harlowe's Fourth Year at Overton College, 1914
5. Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus, 1915
6. Grace Harlowe's Problem, 1916
7. Grace Harlowe's Golden Summer, 1917

Grace Harlowe Overseas Series

1. Grace Harlowe Overseas, 1920
2. Grace Harlowe with the Red Cross in France, 1920
3. Grace Harlowe with the Marines at Chateau Thierry, 1920
4. Grace Harlowe with the U.S. Troops in the Argonne, 1920
5. Grace Harlowe with the Yankee Shock Boys at St. Quentin, 1920
6. Grace Harlowe with the American Army on the Rhine, 1920

Grace Harlowe Overland Riders Series

1. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Old Apache Trail, 1921
2. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Great American Desert, 1921
3. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders Among the Kentucky Mountaineers, 1921
4. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the Great North Woods, 1921
5. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the High Sierras, 1923
6. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the Yellowstone National Park, 1923
7. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the Black Hills, 1923
8. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders at Circle O Ranch, 1923
9. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders Among the Border Guerillas, 1924
10. Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders On the Lost River Trail, 1924

I set myself the goal of acquiring all of the books in the original Altemus editions with the earliest style dust jackets. The Altemus editions have a later style of dust jacket that I dislike, so I wanted the earlier style. I also wished to avoid the Saalfield editions at all cost since the paper is of poor quality.

This is a very difficult series to acquire in the original Altemus editions with dust jackets. The Altemus editions are even a bit hard to find without the dust jackets. I am just three books short of having all of the books in all four sets. My books are all Altemus editions, and only four of them are lacking the dust jackets.

I am close enough to having all of the books that I have decided to read the books. I am likely going to have to settle for Saalfield editions of the books I lack in order to be able to read the entire set in sequence.

I have read many good comments about Josephine Chase over the years, so I know the first two sets of books will be good. I have read some not-so-good comments about the final two sets, which were written by Frank Gee Patchin. All I can say is that Patchin's writing had better be higher quality than Harriet Pyne Grove's writing, or I am going to be scarred for life.

9 comments:

Lenora said...

I'm definitely interested in your opinion of this series--I've had the first series for a few years now but have never managed to get started.

beautifulshell said...

yay! i've read the first two series multiple times, and am midway through the third (had to stop because classes are busy right now). the overseas books are very different, obviously, but the writing hasn't annoyed me the way HPG does. i hope it keeps up!

Chris said...

I was surprised to note that at least some of these series were revised (shortened, like the Nancy Drew series, etc, but with no new copyright date...)

also do you know if the format with the pasted on illustrations on the front cover preceded the line drawing format?

Jennifer White said...

I do not know one way or the another. For some reason, I feel like the pasted on illustrations came later, but I could be totally wrong.

Unknown said...

I came across your blog whilst looking for the Grace Harlowe Overseas books to read online like I have done most of the others (free on Amazon and Project Gutenburg). Do you know where the Overseas books are available to read free online? I can't afford to spend over $100 on a book that takes less than a couple of hours to read (I own more than enough books!) but curious to know why so many of the other books in the series are there and yet I can't find the Overseas series. Perhaps it is a copyright issue?

Jennifer White said...

I think the Overseas books are public domain just like the rest of the series. The Overseas books are the scarcest books in the series, and most likely, the people who scan the books to provide free copies have not yet been able to acquire any of them to scan. I don't think they would be willing to pay $100 just to get a book to scan for others to read. Perhaps soon somebody will be able to make scans of those books.

Anonymous said...

I just found some of the High School, College and Overland in an estate sale. If I have any you are still searching for, let me know
Brenda

Elsmorgan said...

Brenda-what a find!! Are you in the UK?

Unknown said...

The Grace Harlowe Series are what started me on my path collecting Girls Series Books for about 40 years. I have just re-read both the "High School Girls Series" and the "College Girls Series" for the first time since I found them at a flea market in Louisville (for $0.75 each). While "Anne of Green Gables" and the works of L. M. Montgomery have become far and away my favorite series. Grace still holds a special place in my colleting heart. I am now onto the "Overland Riders" series, which I do not remember as being near as much fun as the first two.