Is My A Little Princess a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, published 30 September 1905, full title 'A Little Princess: Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Told for the First Time'
• The title page reads 'WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS BY ETHEL FRANKLIN BETTS / CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS / NEW YORK' above the imprint year, and the copyright page reads 'Copyright, 1888 and 1905, by Charles Scribner's Sons' followed by 'Published September, 1905'
• IMPORTANT CAUTION verified directly against a scanned Scribner reprint: the 'Published September, 1905' line is NOT by itself a first-printing point, because Scribner carried it unchanged into later printings - the reprint examined has a title page dated 1917 while its copyright page still reads 'Copyright, 1888 and 1905' and 'Published September, 1905'
• Since Scribner dated the title-page imprint, the imprint year is the check: a first must read 1905 there
• Collates vii-266 pages, approximately 9 x 7 inches, with a colour frontispiece and eleven full-page colour plates by Ethel Franklin Betts (twelve colour illustrations in all)
• Bound in publisher's blue cloth, pictorially decorated and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• Pre-1930: Scribner seal/device plus month-and-year of publication on copyright page; first printings either carry matching dates on title page and copyright page or show no later printings noted.

Full Charles Scribner's Sons first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim that Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1905 is the true first of the expanded novel is upheld, with a firm date of 30 September 1905. The UK edition the census leaves unnamed is Frederick Warne & Co., London, November 1905, illustrated by Harold H. Piffard - a genuinely different illustrated edition, separately collected, and offered in the trade as a 1905 first in its own right. First-thus trap: the 1905 Scribner book is the first appearance of the NOVEL, not of the story. The material began as 'Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's', serialised in St. Nicholas Magazine from December 1887 (illustrated by Reginald B. Birch) and published in book form in 1888 - which is precisely why the 1905 copyright page reads 'Copyright, 1888 and 1905'. Burnett then wrote the three-act play 'A Little Un-fairy Princess' (premiered December 1902) and, at her publisher's request, expanded the story into the 1905 novel, adding Lottie, Becky, Melchisedec and the enlarged garret material.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Scribner printed from the same plates for decades and the copyright page never changed, so a copy offered as a '1905 first' on the strength of the 'Published September, 1905' line alone is unverified - the 1917 Scribner reprint examined for this entry is identical there. Check the title-page imprint year. Later Grosset & Dunlap reprints and the 1963 J. B. Lippincott Tasha Tudor edition are separate editions rather than printings of the first and are frequently miscatalogued. A first must retain the colour frontispiece and all eleven Betts plates; no book-club issue of the 1905 first is documented.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Little Princess a first edition?

A first edition of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: First edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, published 30 September 1905, full title 'A Little Princess: Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Told for the First Time'.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim that Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1905 is the true first of the expanded novel is upheld, with a firm date of 30 September 1905.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Scribner printed from the same plates for decades and the copyright page never changed, so a copy offered as a '1905 first' on the strength of the 'Published September, 1905' line alone is unverified - the 1917 Scribner reprint examined for this entry is identical there. Check the title-page imprint year. Later Grosset & Dunlap reprints and the 1963 J. B. Lippincott Tasha Tudor edition are separate editions rather than printings of the first and are frequently miscatalogued. A first must retain

I have a first edition of A Little Princess — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.