Is My Goodnight Mister Tom a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First issued by Kestrel Books, Penguin's children's hardback imprint, London, 1981, ISBN 0722657013 / 9780722657010; octavo, 304 pages, the author's debut novel
• Bound in olive-green cloth over boards with copper-gilt lettering to the spine — two independent dealer descriptions agree on olive/dark-olive green cloth with gilt or copper-gilt spine titling
• The colour pictorial dust jacket is by Vanessa Julian-Ottie and is a wraparound 'fold-over scene' design; the jacket should be unclipped with the price present at the flap
• Kestrel titles of this period carry no number line: the first impression states 'First published 1981' on the copyright page with no subsequent impressions listed, and the presence of any later impression line rules out a first
• The dealer claim, frequently repeated in the trade, of a first printing of 'possibly as few as 500 copies' rests on a single unsupported assertion and is deliberately not adopted here

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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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 Kestrel Books, London, 1981 is the true first and precedes the US edition; the census claim is CONFIRMED. The first American edition is Harper & Row, New York, 1982, and it was retitled 'Good Night, Mr. Tom' (ISBN 0060240784) — the differing title styling (three words with a comma and the abbreviation 'Mr.', versus the British 'Goodnight Mister Tom') is the fastest way to tell the two editions apart at a glance. Both are collected, the Kestrel as the true first and the author's debut, the Harper & Row as the first American.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No UK book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. Later-issue tells: the Puffin paperback (from 1982) and the Harper Trophy paperback (ISBN 0064401746) are reprints, not firsts; any copy titled 'Good Night, Mr. Tom' is the American edition or a later US reprint and never the Kestrel first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Goodnight Mister Tom a first edition?

A first edition of Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (Kestrel Books) is identified by: First issued by Kestrel Books, Penguin's children's hardback imprint, London, 1981, ISBN 0722657013 / 9780722657010; octavo, 304 pages, the author's debut novel.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). UK Kestrel Books, London, 1981 is the true first and precedes the US edition; the census claim is CONFIRMED.

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

No UK book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. Later-issue tells: the Puffin paperback (from 1982) and the Harper Trophy paperback (ISBN 0064401746) are reprints, not firsts; any copy titled 'Good Night, Mr. Tom' is the American edition or a later US reprint and never the Kestrel first.

I have a first edition of Goodnight Mister Tom — 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.