Sam Steele

The Sam Steele series only lasted for two books. This was to be L. Frank Baum's series for teen boys, just as the Aunt Jane's were for teen girls - this time his pseudonym was Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald. The first title was similar in size and style to the first book in the Aunt Jane's Nieces series - in both cases a fairly plain binding with a paper label.

Apparently the book didn't catch on, and the binding was changed for a new edition - a slightly larger book, with a stamped cover illustration and the more descriptive title, Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea. This was followed by Sam Steele's Adventures in Panama, which was bound in a similar style. This second book is very difficult to find!

The series still was not selling well, so Reilly & Britton decided to try a different tack. They re-published these two books as the first titles in the Boy Fortune Hunters series, giving Baum yet another pseudonym - this time Floyd Akers. This series sold well enough to add four more titles. Hungry Tiger Press is currently reprinting the Sam Steele books, as well as a number of other pseudonymous Baum books.