Is My Father Goose: His Book a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The documented first-printing point is a negative one: the copyright page of the first printing carries no edition or printing statement of any kind, and later printings add one
• Physically, the book is a quarto in original pictorial gray paper-covered boards, unpaginated (54 leaves including the front blank), with colour illustrations throughout by W. W. Denslow and the verso of the final leaf crediting Ralph Fletcher Seymour for the hand-lettered text (an economy measure — the verse was hand-lettered rather than typeset)
• Because reprints followed within weeks — publication was 25 September 1899 in an initial run of about 5,700 copies, a second printing of 10,000 followed on 16 October, and roughly 75,700 copies had been run off by Christmas 1899 — the copyright page is doing nearly all the identification work, and copies should be checked against Bienvenue & Schmidt (or Greene & Hanff) rather than on imprint and date alone
• CORRECTION TO THE CENSUS CLAIM: the claimed "first-state points on the laid-paper text" could not be corroborated in any source consulted; no paper, laid/wove, or watermark point is documented for this title, and that claim has been dropped rather than published

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 US 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?

US-only origination, and the census claim is correct: Geo. M. Hill Co., Chicago (and New York), 1899 is the true first. No UK or other-language edition precedes it, and no British trade edition of 1899 is documented in the sources consulted. This is the Baum–Denslow collaboration that immediately precedes and financed the look of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the same publisher, so it is collected as an Oz-adjacent first in its own right, not as a "first thus" of anything earlier.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for a title of this date. The governing reprint tell is the copyright-page edition statement — any printed edition or printing wording there rules out the first printing. The practical trap is not a book club but the sheer speed of the reprint sequence: six printings of between 10,000 and 30,000 copies each followed within three months of publication, all dated 1899 with the same imprint, so a correct-looking 1899 Hill copy is far more likely to be a later 1899 printing than the first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Father Goose: His Book a first edition?

A first edition of Father Goose: His Book by L. Frank Baum (illus. W. W. Denslow) (George M. Hill) is identified by: The documented first-printing point is a negative one: the copyright page of the first printing carries no edition or printing statement of any kind, and later printings add one.

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. US-only origination, and the census claim is correct: Geo.

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

No book-club issue is documented for a title of this date. The governing reprint tell is the copyright-page edition statement — any printed edition or printing wording there rules out the first printing. The practical trap is not a book club but the sheer speed of the reprint sequence: six printings of between 10,000 and 30,000 copies each followed within three months of publication, all dated 1899 with the same imprint, so a correct-looking 1899 Hill copy is far more likely to be a later 1899 p

I have a first edition of Father Goose: His Book — 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.