# Is "Jackanapes" by Juliana Horatia Ewing a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Jackanapes by Juliana Horatia Ewing (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884) is identified by: Ewing's story had appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine in 1879, but its first separate book publication, with new illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, came from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1884.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Ewing's story had appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine in 1879, but its first separate book publication, with new illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, came from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1884
- The first edition is 47 pages, bound in tan paper-covered boards with a grey cloth spine, the front cover printed in black, brown, red and blue
- First-issue copies have the word 'Egad' as the final word on page 27 (later printings substitute 'why'), and the frontispiece carries the page reference 'p
- 39' at its foot
- Publisher imprint reads Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Juliana Horatia Ewing |
| Publisher | Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |
| Year | 1884 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Ewing's story had appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine in 1879, but its first separate book publication, with new illustrations by Randolph… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Ewing's story had appeared in Aunt Judy's Magazine in 1879, but its first separate book publication, with new illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, came from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1884. The first edition is 47 pages, bound in tan paper-covered boards with a grey cloth spine, the front cover printed in black, brown, red and blue. First-issue copies have the word 'Egad' as the final word on page 27 (later printings substitute 'why'), and the frontispiece carries the page reference 'p. 39' at its foot.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
SPCK kept Jackanapes in print for decades from the same 1884 setting (a surviving Internet Archive copy is marked the 'eightieth thousand' printing), so the binding alone will not establish a first printing; only 'Egad' at the foot of page 27 and the frontispiece's 'p. 39' reference do.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Jackanapes* by Juliana Horatia Ewing a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/jackanapes
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.