Is My Counter-Attack and Other Poems a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first: London, printed by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited for William Heinemann, 1918 (Keynes A17a
• 1,500 copies)
• Octavo, roughly 181 x 120 mm, issued in original printed stiff wrappers — red and orange — with fore-edge (French) flaps folding over the endpapers; no dust jacket was called for on the wrappered issue
• The title page bears the Heinemann imprint and the 1918 date with no impression statement
• Heinemann reprinted at once, and auction and dealer records document a stated 'Second impression'
• and a 'Fourth impression'

How William Heinemann, London marked a first edition

• 1890-1921: year of publication printed on the TITLE PAGE of first editions; on later printings the title-page date was removed and a notice added to the copyright page (a title-page year is the first-printing tell for th…
• First printing = statement present AND no list of subsequent impressions

Full William Heinemann, London 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 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?

Heinemann's London 1918 edition is the true first. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1918 is the first American edition and is separately collected because it adds an introduction by Robert Nichols not present in the London printing — Nichols's introduction is dated from New York City in late November, placing the American edition after London publication. Dutton reprints dated 1919 and 1920 (the latter carrying a 'Third Printing' statement) circulate widely and are frequently mis-listed as the American first; a copy in cloth or boards with a Nichols introduction is American, never the London first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the 1918 printings. Reprint tells are the stated impressions — Heinemann 'Second impression' (1918) and 'Fourth impression' (1919) — and the dated/numbered Dutton printings of 1919 and 1920. The poems were reset for The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon (Heinemann, 1919), which is a 'first thus' collection and not a first edition of Counter-Attack.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Counter-Attack and Other Poems a first edition?

A first edition of Counter-Attack and Other Poems by Siegfried Sassoon (William Heinemann, London) is identified by: True first: London, printed by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited for William Heinemann, 1918 (Keynes A17a; 1,500 copies).

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. Heinemann's London 1918 edition is the true first.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the 1918 printings. Reprint tells are the stated impressions — Heinemann 'Second impression' (1918) and 'Fourth impression' (1919) — and the dated/numbered Dutton printings of 1919 and 1920. The poems were reset for The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon (Heinemann, 1919), which is a 'first thus' collection and not a first edition of Counter-Attack.

I have a first edition of Counter-Attack and Other Poems — 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.