Is My If Christ Came to Chicago! a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, octavo, collating xvi, 460, [4] pp., with a frontispiece and a folding two-color street map keying the Nineteenth Precinct of Chicago's First Ward -- the notorious "Levee" vice district -- showing the locations of brothels, saloons, lodging houses, and pawnbrokers
• Original burgundy cloth with gilt-titled spine (also recorded in the publisher's half cloth over paper-covered boards, the binding used for the Chicago Bow-Knot/Laird & Lee issue)
• Stead, already known in Britain for his 1885 anti-vice journalism, wrote the book after an extended stay in Chicago investigating municipal corruption around the time of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

How Laird & Lee / The Bow-Knot Publishing Co. marked a first edition

• 1883–c.1913: Chicago cheap-fiction, dictionary, and pocket-handbook publisher distributed largely through railroad newsstands and mail-order; first issues carry the 'Laird & Lee, Chicago' imprint and a dated title page.…
• Series fiction (Pastime Series, Pinkerton/detective titles): identify the issue by series number, copyright date, and the bound-in advertisement list. Standing plates were reused across printings, so the catalog/advertis…

Full Laird & Lee / The Bow-Knot Publishing Co. 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?

Stead, editor of the Review of Reviews, issued the book nearly simultaneously through his own Review of Reviews office in London and through the Chicago firm of Laird & Lee (the Bow-Knot Publishing Co.); no firm priority between the Chicago and London printings has been established in the sources consulted.P-036349

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of If Christ Came to Chicago! a first edition?

A first edition of If Christ Came to Chicago! by W. T. Stead (Laird & Lee / The Bow-Knot Publishing Co.) is identified by: First edition, octavo, collating xvi, 460, [4] pp., with a frontispiece and a folding two-color street map keying the Nineteenth Precinct of Chicago's First Ward -- the notorious "Levee" vice district -- showing the locations of brothels, saloons, lodging houses, and pawnbrokers.

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. Stead, editor of the Review of Reviews, issued the book nearly simultaneously through his own Review of Reviews office in London and through the Chicago firm of Laird & Lee (the Bow-Knot Publishing Co.); no firm priority between the Chicago and London printings has been established in the sources consulted.

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

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first; look for a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price.

I have a first edition of If Christ Came to Chicago! — 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.