Is My Copy of 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…

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 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?

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.P-041807

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.P-041808

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. 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.