Is My Copy of Can Such Things Be? a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: New York, The Cassell Publishing Company, 1893
• Octavo, collating pp. [i-ii] iii-iv [1] 2-320 (iv + 320), with flyleaves front and rear; twenty-four tales, including 'The Death of Halpin Frayser,' 'The Moonlit Road' and 'Moxon's Master.' There is no edition or printing statement and no number line; identification rests on the 1893 Cassell Publishing Company title-page imprint and the 320-page collation
• Binding is NOT a single safe point: two markedly different bindings are recorded by top-tier sources — Currey describes original decorated mustard cloth, front panel stamped in brown and black, spine panel stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind
• Sotheby's cataloguing describes original blue cloth, upper cover lettered and pictorially stamped in black and red, lower cover with rules and Greek key in blind, spine lettered in gilt with a floral motif in gilt and black
• No priority between these bindings has been established in the sources consulted, so do not reject a copy on cloth color alone

How The Cassell Publishing Company, New York marked a first edition

• Pre-early-1920s: year printed on the TITLE PAGE of the first edition with the copyright page left blank; later printings carry a later copyright-page date or reprint note

Full The Cassell Publishing Company, New York 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the American 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 American Cassell edition of 1893 is the true first and the reference text; no British or foreign-language edition precedes it, and no early UK first is separately collected against it. The 1903 Neale Publishing 'new and authorized edition' is a substantially different book — Bierce's author's note complains that tales had been reprinted without his assent, and the 1903 contents overlap the 1893 collection only in a handful of the famous stories; it is a revised edition, not a first. The 1909-1912 Neale Collected Works scatters and rearranges the contents across volumes, which is why the 1893 Cassell state remains the reference.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporary book-club issue is documented. The traps are the 1903 Neale Publishing revised edition (Washington/New York imprint, different contents), the Neale Collected Works volumes of 1909-1912, and the 1918 Boni & Liveright and 1926 A. & C. Boni reprints, all of which are commonly listed simply as 'Can Such Things Be?' with an early-looking date. Any copy whose title page does not read 'The Cassell Publishing Co.' with the date 1893 is a later edition.P-037818

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Can Such Things Be? a first edition?

A first edition of Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce (The Cassell Publishing Company, New York) is identified by: First edition: New York, The Cassell Publishing Company, 1893.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The American Cassell edition of 1893 is the true first and the reference text; no British or foreign-language edition precedes it, and no early UK first is separately collected against it.

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

No contemporary book-club issue is documented. The traps are the 1903 Neale Publishing revised edition (Washington/New York imprint, different contents), the Neale Collected Works volumes of 1909-1912, and the 1918 Boni & Liveright and 1926 A. & C. Boni reprints, all of which are commonly listed simply as 'Can Such Things Be?' with an early-looking date. Any copy whose title page does not read 'The Cassell Publishing Co.' with the date 1893 is a later edition.

I have a first edition of Can Such Things Be? — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.