Is My Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1919; octavo, pp. [1-8] [1-8] 9-368; original brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, fore and bottom edges untrimmed; book seven of the Biography of the Life of Manuel
• Two physical points identify the first printing and both should be checked together, because the McBride title page dated 1919 is by itself insufficient — three printings were run from the same setting before the January 1920 seizure
• First: the text block measures 2.8 cm across the top
• Second: the rule on page 144 is unbroken/intact; later printings show the rule broken
• L. W. Currey states the pair as 'measuring 2.8 cm across top of text block and with unbroken rule on page 144'
• James Cummins states the same pair independently as 'line rules on p

How Robert M. McBride & Co. marked a first edition

• c.1915–1920s: first editions state 'Published [Month, Year]' (or 'First Published [Month, Year]') on the copyright page; subsequent printings were noted.

Full Robert M. McBride & 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. 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 US 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?

US first, confirmed: Robert M. McBride & Co., New York, 1919 — off the presses 27 September 1919 — is the true first. No simultaneous or earlier UK edition is recorded in the sources consulted; the British issue followed. The suppression is precisely why the points matter rather than being mere trivia: on 14 January 1920 the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice seized the plates, copies and sheets at McBride's offices and sale was banned for roughly two years, so surviving first-printing sheets are the target and the later printings from the same setting are the trap the census note flags.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the 1919 McBride first. The reprint field is instead crowded with later McBride printings from the same setting, separable only by the broken rule on page 144 and the text-block measurement, plus a later illustrated edition with plates by Ray F. Coyle and mid-century reprints — all 'first thus' or later states, not the first printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice a first edition?

A first edition of Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice by James Branch Cabell (Robert M. McBride & Co.) is identified by: McBride & Co., 1919; octavo, pp.

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). US first, confirmed: Robert M.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the 1919 McBride first. The reprint field is instead crowded with later McBride printings from the same setting, separable only by the broken rule on page 144 and the text-block measurement, plus a later illustrated edition with plates by Ray F. Coyle and mid-century reprints — all 'first thus' or later states, not the first printing.

I have a first edition of Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice — 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.