Is My Just So Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1902; the title page reads "Just So Stories For Little Children By Rudyard Kipling Illustrated by the Author London Macmillan and Co., Limited 1902 All rights reserved"
• Quarto, published October 1902, with 22 full-page plates by Kipling and his own vignettes through the text
• Livingston's collation (no
• 267): 4 leaves, pp
• 252 — blank leaf, fore-title, title, contents (4 leaves); text and plates pp
• 1-249; printer's device p

How Macmillan and Co., Limited marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, pre-late-1800s: no printing statement was used. Treat the book as a first only when the date on the TITLE page matches the last (latest) date on the copyright page. A title-page year EARLIER than the latest…

Full Macmillan and Co., Limited 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 American 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?

The census claim is confirmed: the London Macmillan edition of October 1902 is the true first. Livingston's bibliography (1927) enters it in her chronology of first editions as "1902: Just So Stories, 257", and records at no. 268 that a copy of the London edition was sent to Doubleday, Page & Co. in New York from which to print the American edition — establishing English priority on documentary grounds rather than inference. The first American edition (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902) is separately collected: its title page carries an ornament before "New York Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902", and Livingston's collation gives 4 leaves, pp. 250, 1 leaf — text pp. 1-249 with a terminal blank and no printer's device, where the London issue has one at p. 251. Doubleday also issued a copyright broadside of extracts and four plates (Livingston no. 266), advertised September 1902; it is a copyright-deposit item, not an edition, and does not disturb London's priority. A first Canadian edition (Toronto: George S. Morang & Co., Limited, 1902), in cream cloth stamped in black, is also recorded.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for 1902. The chief reprint traps are Macmillan's own later impressions from the same setting, on which the 1902 title-page date can persist — check the title-page verso for a reprint or impression statement. The second binding state is routinely mis-sold as a later printing when it is in fact a first-impression state, and conversely a flaked copy is sometimes written off as merely damaged. Doubleday, Page reissued the text in 1912 with new pictures by Joseph M. Gleeson (Livingston no. 269), in tan cloth lettered and decorated in brown — an illustrated reissue, not a first. Modern facsimile and print-on-demand issues marketed as "The Original 1902 Edition With Illustrations" are common and are not the 1902 book.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Just So Stories a first edition?

A first edition of Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (Macmillan and Co., Limited) is identified by: London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1902; the title page reads "Just So Stories For Little Children By Rudyard Kipling Illustrated by the Author London Macmillan and Co., Limited 1902 All rights reserved".

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). The census claim is confirmed: the London Macmillan edition of October 1902 is the true first.

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

No book-club edition is documented for 1902. The chief reprint traps are Macmillan's own later impressions from the same setting, on which the 1902 title-page date can persist — check the title-page verso for a reprint or impression statement. The second binding state is routinely mis-sold as a later printing when it is in fact a first-impression state, and conversely a flaked copy is sometimes written off as merely damaged. Doubleday, Page reissued the text in 1912 with new pictures by Joseph M

I have a first edition of Just So Stories — 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.