J. Grout, Worcester, Ma.

Jonathan Grout (1815-1882) moved from Milbury to Worcester in 1840 and opened a stationary store. Subsequently he expanded into blank book publishing. The business shortly thereafter moved into bookselling and book publishing.

Grout sold out to John Keith in 1852. In 1860 he reentered the book business in a partnership with L. H. Bigelow. Bigelow bought out Grout a short time later but when Bigelow died in 1871, Grout took over the firm with a new partner, Samuel H. Putnam. In 1876 the company was succeeded by Putnam and Davis.

The chapbooks published by Grout occasionally had the 199 Main Street address noted. It was there in 1845-1846. Most often there was no address on these little volumes. All the chapbooks shown here were published in the 1840s and maybe the early 1850's.

Sorting out the chapbooks published by Grout is not an easy matter. I have not seen any catalogues or listings which designate which titles below to which series. In all likelihood there are only a few different series which were published over a several year span. The formats were most likely changed yearly. Many of the volumes also note H. J. Howland as the publisher.

No authors are shown on any of the chapbooks.
Here are the known chapbook titles:

"Aviary" and "Natural History of Birds" are presumed to be the same except for a title change.

There are numerous front cover formats. Most likely each particular series has 12 titles (typical for most chapbook series). Thus, for the first four cover styles below, we can identify several titles. Unfortunately until more covers are seen, I cannot determine which covers are part of the same series but from different years. This is definitely a work in progress.

Wraps. Various colors. Each book has different cover illustration. 5.75" x 3.75"

Wraps. Various colors. Different cover illustration for each book. 5.75" x 3.75"

Wraps. Each book has a different cover illustration. 5.75" x 3.75" 24 pages excluding the covers.

These books have been put together because they all note Henry J. Howland, Printer on the cover and they have a black rectangular square pattern within the peripheral cover design.
These are the only books seen at this time (2020) that have the printer shown on the cover.

The books below each have a unique covers. Some are similar and they are placed together. But with no catalogue lists and not enough volumes to examine, I cannot convincingly place any of these books together as a series that appeared in any particular year.