Is My Five Children and It a First Edition?

The points of issue

• T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902
• 8vo, xv, 301pp, illustrated by H. R. Millar
• Publisher's original red cloth with gilt titling and pictorial gilt blocking to the front board and spine; edges red as reported by dealer cataloguing
• The text first appeared not in this volume but serially in The Strand Magazine, in monthly instalments from April to December 1902, under the general title 'The Psammead, or the Gifts', and was expanded for book publication the same year — so the Unwin volume is the first edition in book form while the Strand serial is the true first appearance of the text, a distinction worth stating on a reference page
• Plate counts differ materially between dealer descriptions (one listing accounts for 45 of 46 black-and-white plates including the frontispiece, others give no count), so the plate complement could not be fixed from the sources consulted; collate plates against the list of illustrations rather than against a dealer's stated total

How T. Fisher Unwin marked a first edition

• Late-Victorian house that stated editions more explicitly than the earlier three-decker firms: many firsts carry a printed title-page date, and a first shows the original date with no later-impression notice and no repri…
• Series volumes (Pseudonym Library, Autonym Library, Mermaid Series) carry series numbering; the series setting is the first appearance for many original titles but a reprint for classics — verify which for each book.

Full T. Fisher Unwin 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?

UK T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902 is the true first in book form, and the census is correct. The first American edition is Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1905, likewise with Millar's illustrations — published three years after the London edition, so no simultaneity or precedence question arises and the American edition is a distinct, separately collected first American rather than a rival true first. First volume of the Psammead trilogy, followed by The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Story of the Amulet (1906).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Unwin printings retain the setting, and the title was reissued continuously through the twentieth century. Principal trap is 'first thus': the 1948 Looking Glass Library edition illustrated by J. S. Goodall is offered by dealers as a 'the printed pricet Edition' — it is a mid-century reissue with new illustrations, not the 1902 first. Modern Penguin, Alma and similar reprints are current trade editions.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Five Children and It a first edition?

A first edition of Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (T. Fisher Unwin) is identified by: Fisher Unwin, London, 1902.

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. UK T.

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

Later Unwin printings retain the setting, and the title was reissued continuously through the twentieth century. Principal trap is 'first thus': the 1948 Looking Glass Library edition illustrated by J. S. Goodall is offered by dealers as a 'the printed pricet Edition' — it is a mid-century reissue with new illustrations, not the 1902 first. Modern Penguin, Alma and similar reprints are current trade editions.

I have a first edition of Five Children and It — 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.