# Is "Captains Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (The Century Co., 1897) is identified by: of New York published the first book edition of Captains Courageous in 1897, about a month ahead of the Macmillan London edition, following serialization in McClure's Magazine that began in November 1896. The Century Co.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Century Co. of New York published the first book edition of Captains Courageous in 1897, about a month ahead of the Macmillan London edition, following serialization in McClure's Magazine that began in November 1896
- The Century first edition collates viii + 323 pages, is illustrated with plates by I. W. Taber, and is bound in green cloth gilt-lettered with pictorial stamping in gilt, black, and orange
- The Macmillan first English edition collates viii, 245, [1], plus 2 pages of advertisements, is illustrated with twenty-two full-page plates by I. W. Taber, and is bound in the publisher's blue cloth stamped in gilt, with all edges gilt
- Publisher imprint reads The Century Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rudyard Kipling |
| Publisher | The Century Co. |
| Year | 1897 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Century Co. of New York published the first book edition of Captains Courageous in 1897, about a month ahead of the Macmillan London… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The Century Co. of New York published the first book edition of Captains Courageous in 1897, about a month ahead of the Macmillan London edition, following serialization in McClure's Magazine that began in November 1896. The Century first edition collates viii + 323 pages, is illustrated with plates by I. W. Taber, and is bound in green cloth gilt-lettered with pictorial stamping in gilt, black, and orange. The Macmillan first English edition collates viii, 245, [1], plus 2 pages of advertisements, is illustrated with twenty-two full-page plates by I. W. Taber, and is bound in the publisher's blue cloth stamped in gilt, with all edges gilt.

## Is this the true first?
The Century Co. New York edition of 1897 preceded the Macmillan London edition by about a month and holds bibliographic priority as the true first edition; the illustrated Macmillan English first edition is nonetheless the state most commonly sought by collectors of Kipling's British canon.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Captains Courageous* by Rudyard Kipling a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/captains-courageous
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.