Is My Hunting Trips of a Ranchman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1885
• The true first edition is the "Medora Edition," a large-paper quarto limited to 500 numbered copies (about 11 inches tall), collating xvi, 318, [4] pages, bound in gilt-stamped brown cloth, top edge trimmed but fore-edge and tail left untrimmed, illustrated with India-proof impressions of etchings by R. Swain Gifford and Japan-proof impressions of drawings by J. C. Beard, plus full-page plates by Gifford, Beard, Henry Sandham, A. B. Frost, and others
• Roosevelt personally subsidized the printing of this deluxe first issue, named for Medora, the Dakota Territory boomtown near his Maltese Cross and Elkhorn ranches
• A smaller-format ordinary trade edition followed from Putnam in 1886 and is not the first edition

How G. P. Putnam's Sons marked a first edition

• PRE-1928 (early independent house): Putnam printed NO first-edition statement. Identify a first by matching the copyright-page year to the title-page year with no reprint/later-printing notice on the copyright page. Afte…

Full G. P. Putnam's Sons 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. 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.
5. 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?

The numbered, 500-copy Medora Edition of 1885 is the true first edition; the more commonly seen octavo Putnam trade printing dates from 1886.P-035430

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1886 and later Putnam trade printings, and 20th-century facsimile reprints, drop the large-paper format, the numbered limitation, and the proof-state plates that distinguish the Medora Edition.P-035431

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hunting Trips of a Ranchman a first edition?

A first edition of Hunting Trips of a Ranchman by Theodore Roosevelt (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is identified by: The true first edition is the "Medora Edition," a large-paper quarto limited to 500 numbered copies (about 11 inches tall), collating xvi, 318, [4] pages, bound in gilt-stamped brown cloth, top edge trimmed but fore-edge and tail left untrimmed, illustrated with India-proof impressions of etchings by R.

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. The numbered, 500-copy Medora Edition of 1885 is the true first edition; the more commonly seen octavo Putnam trade printing dates from 1886.

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

The 1886 and later Putnam trade printings, and 20th-century facsimile reprints, drop the large-paper format, the numbered limitation, and the proof-state plates that distinguish the Medora Edition.

I have a first edition of Hunting Trips of a Ranchman — 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.