# Is "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" by Kay Nielsen (illus.); Asbjørnsen & Moe tales a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kay Nielsen (illus.); Asbjørnsen & Moe tales (Hodder & Stoughton, 1914) is identified by: Hodder issued the book in two forms in 1914. The London Hodder & Stoughton issue of 1914 is the true first and precedes the American issue from George H.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Hodder issued the book in two forms in 1914
- The deluxe issue is limited to 500 copies, each numbered and signed by Kay Nielsen on the limitation leaf, bound in publisher's vellum with gilt lettering and a gilt decorative panel within a blue border, top edge gilt and other edges untrimmed, with silk ties (very often perished or detached) and, when complete, a plain slipcase
- The trade issue is a quarto in the original dark blue cloth, elaborately gilt-decorated and lettered on the upper cover and spine to Nielsen's own design
- Both issues carry 25 colour plates (including the frontispiece) mounted on Japon-type stock and set within black-and-gold borders, each under a captioned tissue guard, plus an illustrated and bordered title page, black-and-gold pictorial endpapers, and numerous line drawings, chapter headings and decorative borders; collation runs to roughly 206–207 pages
- The plates were printed by a four-colour process, unusual in 1914 and a visible difference from the three-colour work in contemporary Rackham and Dulac gift books
- Beware rebound copies (half morocco and similar) offered as "first edition" — the original blue cloth or the vellum is the point
- Publisher imprint reads Hodder & Stoughton

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kay Nielsen (illus.); Asbjørnsen & Moe tales |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Year | 1914 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Hodder issued the book in two forms in 1914 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Hodder issued the book in two forms in 1914. The deluxe issue is limited to 500 copies, each numbered and signed by Kay Nielsen on the limitation leaf, bound in publisher's vellum with gilt lettering and a gilt decorative panel within a blue border, top edge gilt and other edges untrimmed, with silk ties (very often perished or detached) and, when complete, a plain slipcase. The trade issue is a quarto in the original dark blue cloth, elaborately gilt-decorated and lettered on the upper cover and spine to Nielsen's own design. Both issues carry 25 colour plates (including the frontispiece) mounted on Japon-type stock and set within black-and-gold borders, each under a captioned tissue guard, plus an illustrated and bordered title page, black-and-gold pictorial endpapers, and numerous line drawings, chapter headings and decorative borders; collation runs to roughly 206–207 pages. The plates were printed by a four-colour process, unusual in 1914 and a visible difference from the three-colour work in contemporary Rackham and Dulac gift books. Beware rebound copies (half morocco and similar) offered as "first edition" — the original blue cloth or the vellum is the point.

## Is this the true first?
The London Hodder & Stoughton issue of 1914 is the true first and precedes the American issue from George H. Doran, New York. Both the Hodder deluxe (500 signed, vellum) and the Hodder trade (dark blue cloth gilt) are collected, the deluxe being the pinnacle. The Doran American issue is undated but carries a 1914 copyright, and dealers actively dispute how early any given Doran copy is: the census claim that the UK precedes Doran is confirmed, but Doran copies should not be assumed to be 1914 printings simply because the copyright page says 1914.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented. The reprint trap is on the American side: copies in mustard/yellow cloth lettered in red on spine and upper cover are 1920s Doran printings, not 1914, despite the 1914 copyright page, and ABAA/ILAB dealers explicitly flag listings that describe that binding as "1914" as incorrect. The Public Domain Review works from a 1922 Doran issue. Later Garden City and modern Taschen reissues are "first thus" only.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *East of the Sun and West of the Moon* by Kay Nielsen (illus.); Asbjørnsen & Moe tales a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon
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.