Tom Swift Sr. - Series 1 Book List

The first thirty-four books appeared in tan bindings with almost identical-looking covers split into four sections with the title in the middle. They also had colorful dustjackets that, unfortunatly, were usually thrown away. In 1932 or 1933, the format of the books were changed to a solid orange with plain lettering instead of the quadrant type previously used. The endpapers then began sporting an interesting looking picture depicting Tom and many of his inventions. The Tom Swift Sr. books also contained a single illustration plate facing the title page. When purchasing these books, check to see if the plate is still there. For some reason, perhaps because it is slightly heavier than the surrounding pages, this is the page most likely to fall out or become loose.

Around 1935, Whitman acquired the rights to the Tom Swift Sr. series. The last two books in the set, numbers 39 and 40, were released only as Better Little Books by Whitman. These are similar to the Big Little Books that were so abundant on store shelves during the 70's and 80's, except the Better Little Books were hardcover instead of paperbacks. These had a drawn picture on every other page with text filling the opposing page. The Better Little Books had picture covers and no dustjackets.

The dustjackets on the Tom Swift Sr. books were usually lost or destroyed making it difficult to find a complete set of the books with their dustjackets intact. In response to this problem, Jim Towey has recreated all of the Tom Swift Sr. dustjackets with the help of his color laser printer and sells them for $3 or $4 apiece. They are of very nice quality and I highly recommend them. If you are interested please contact Jim at ToweyJ@aol.com

THE COMPLETE LIST OF TOM SWIFT SR. (SERIES 1)

Tom Swift by Victor Appleton

Published by Grosset & Dunlap

1910 - 1941

1. Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle (1910)
2. Tom Swift and His Motor Boat (1910)
3. Tom Swift and His Airship (1910)
4. Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat (1910)
5. Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout (1910)
6. Tom Swift and His Wireless Message (1911)
7. Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers (1911)
8. Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice (1911)
9. Tom Swift and His Sky Racer (1911)
10. Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (1911)
11. Tom Swift in the City of Gold (1912)
12. Tom Swift and His Air Glider (1912)
13. Tom Swift in Captivity (1912)
14. Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera (1912)
15. Tom Swift and His Great Search Light (1912)
16. Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon (1913)
17. Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone (1914)
18. Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship (1915)
19. Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel (1916)
20. Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders (1917)
21. Tom Swift and His War Tank (1918)
22. Tom Swift and His Air Scout (1919)
23. Tom Swift and His Undersea Search (1920)
24. Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters (1921)
25. Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive (1922)
26. Tom Swift and His Flying Boat (1923)
27. Tom Swift and His Great Oil Gushers (1924)
28. Tom Swift and His Chest of Secrets (1925)
29. Tom Swift and His Airline Express (1926)
30. Tom Swift Circling the Globe (1927)
31. Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures (1928)
32. Tom Swift and His House on Wheels (1929)
33. Tom Swift and His Big Dirigible (1930)
34. Tom Swift and His Sky Train (1931)
35. Tom Swift and His Giant Magnet (1932)
36. Tom Swift and His Television Detector (1933)
37. Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport (1934)
38. Tom Swift and His Planet Stone (1935)

Whitman Better Little Books - No Grosset & Dunlap Versions available

39. Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope (1939)  (Better Little Book)
40. Tom Swift and His Magnetic Silencer (1941) (Better Little Book)

Whitman Publishing also reprinted several of the later books in the 30's and 40's. (I'm not sure of the exact time period.) These were printed in simple, plain red, orange, brown, blue, green, or gray bindings. Most of them were taller than the Grosset & Dunlap releases, but some of them were the same height as the original Grosset and Dunlap versions. These also had dustjackets though I believe they had different pictures than the Grosset & Dunlap ones, but I'm not sure. The Whitman editions also did away with the illustration plate found in the Grosset & Dunlap versions.

WHITMAN REPRINTS

1. Tom Swift and His Television Detector
2. Tom Swift and His House on Wheels
3. Tom Swift and His Sky Train
4. Tom Swift Circling the Globe
5. Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport
6. Tom Swift and His Airline Express
7. Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures
8. Tom Swift and His Big Dirigible
9. Tom Swift and His Giant Magnet
10. Tom Swift and His Planet Stone

In 1932, Ked's Athletic Shoes gave away abridged copies of two different Tom Swift books with the purchase of shoes. The two titles are "Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle" and "Tom Swift and His Motor Boat".

"Each book is approximately the size of a National Geographic magazine in overall size and thickness. The books are approximately 87 pages in length and the text is printed in small type in a two-column format. The covers of the books feature a "quadrant design" similar to the tan cloth books. However, the vehicles featured in each picture are 1930s era."

-- James D. Keeline

They were printed on highly-acidic pulp paper, so they are usually found in a highly deteriorated state, if you are lucky enough to find them at all. These are paperbacks, not hardcovers. About twice as many copies of the Ked's edition of "Tom Swift and His Motor Boat" exist than the similar edition of "Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle". Apparently, those who purchased the first book could send in their name and address and a friend's name and address and both would receive "Tom Swift and His Motor Boat". (Thanks go to James D. Keeline and Bob Finnan for this information.)

LANDCASTER, LORD & COMPANY/KED'S ATHLETIC SHOE PAPERBACKS

1. Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle (1932)
2. Tom Swift and His Motor Boat (1932)

In 1992, Applewood Books reprinted the first three Tom Swift Sr. books in replica hardcover editions. As far as I know, these are still available for about $12.95. Check your local bookstores as they should be able to order them for you.

APPLEWOOD REPRINTS

1. Tom Swift and His Motorcycle
2. Tom Swift and His Motor Boat
3. Tom Swift and His Airship

In 2003, Woggle-Bug Press reprinted the hard to find book 'Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope' in saddle-stitched paperback format. These were available in a multiple of colors. The cover image, however, was printed in black and white.

In 2004, they created a second edition that was perfect bound with a full color cover. This edition is still available for sale online at http://www.cafepress.com/wogglebug

WOGGLE-BUG PRESS REPRINTS

1B. Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope (Woggle-bug Press)(Second Edition)

As a final note, since the Tom Swift Sr. Series is so old, many of them have fallen into the Public Domain (at least in the U.S.). The Project Gutenberg team have been steadily releasing works in the Public Domain as electronic text files. Among these have been several of the Tom Swift Sr. books. These are available free-of-charge. The following links are to either text files, or zipped archives of the text files from Project Gutenberg's FTP site. The two HTML links for "Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders" lead to InterGO Communication's website. Their HTML versions are much easier to read than the text file since it's split up into individual chapters. Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle is also available in HTML format from Softdisk's website. Unfortunatly, it's not separated into separate pages for each chapter like InterGo does.

ELECTRONIC TEXTS

Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle - Text HTML

Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Sky Racer - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Air Glider - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel - Text Zip

Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders - Text Zip HTML 1 HTML 2

Tom Swift and His War Tank - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Air Scout - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Undersea Search - Text Zip

Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters - Text Zip

Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive - Text Zip

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