Dating Lothrop books:

 

There are several ways to date a Lothrop book.

1. The easiest and most exacting method is to note a date on the title page.

2. Lothrop went through several name changes. The publisher name on the title page can narrow down the date of publication.
D. Lothrop & Co. 1868-1887
D. Lothrop Company 1887-1895
Lothrop Publishing Company 1895-1905
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard 1905-

3. Your book had to be published in or later than the copyright year noted on the copyright page.

4. If there is an inscription, the book's publication almost certainly cannot have been published after that date.

5. The Lothrop address or imprint can be helpful. Appreciate that there are many books without an address.

D. Lothrop & Co./ Dover , N. H., G. T. Day & Co. 1868-1877
D. Lothrop & Co. 38 & 40 Cornhill 1868-1876

The following addresses have some crossover in their dates and the dates may extend a year or two either way.
Lothrop also may have used some of the Franklin and Hawley addresses interchangeably between 1877 and 1888.

Corner of Franklin and Hawley 1877
32 Franklin Street 1880-1882
30 & 32 Franklin Street 1880-1883
Franklin St., Corner of Hawley 1882
Franklin and Hawley Streets 1884-1888
Washington Street, Opposite Bromfield 1889