# Is "Just William" by Richmal Crompton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Just William by Richmal Crompton (George Newnes, Limited, 1922) is identified by: London: George Newnes, Limited, published May 1922. The UK Newnes 1922 edition is the true first worldwide; no contemporaneous US edition competes for precedence, so there is no UK-vs-US question here.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: George Newnes, Limited, published May 1922
- The title page carries no date — auction and dealer records catalogue the first as "[n.d. but circa 1922]" — and the first impression bears no impression or reprint statement anywhere in the book
- Small 8vo in publisher's red cloth lettered in black, 248 pages, with line drawings by Thomas Henry, and 4 pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear (the adverts are treated as requisite)
- Because the book itself is unstated and undated, jacketless copies are hard to place with certainty; the jacket is the decisive evidence, since Newnes printed the impression on the jacket front from the second impression onward — a Newnes jacket for this title dated 1933 is marked "26th printing." The author's first book and the first appearance of William Brown (and Jumble)
- Publisher imprint reads George Newnes, Limited
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richmal Crompton |
| Publisher | George Newnes, Limited |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | London: George Newnes, Limited, published May 1922 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
London: George Newnes, Limited, published May 1922. The title page carries no date — auction and dealer records catalogue the first as "[n.d. but circa 1922]" — and the first impression bears no impression or reprint statement anywhere in the book. Small 8vo in publisher's red cloth lettered in black, 248 pages, with line drawings by Thomas Henry, and 4 pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear (the adverts are treated as requisite). Because the book itself is unstated and undated, jacketless copies are hard to place with certainty; the jacket is the decisive evidence, since Newnes printed the impression on the jacket front from the second impression onward — a Newnes jacket for this title dated 1933 is marked "26th printing." The author's first book and the first appearance of William Brown (and Jumble).

## Is this the true first?
The UK Newnes 1922 edition is the true first worldwide; no contemporaneous US edition competes for precedence, so there is no UK-vs-US question here. The stories had appeared in magazine form before collection, but the Newnes volume is the first book appearance. Later Collins, Armada, Merlin and Macmillan issues are reprints and carry no first-edition standing; do not accept them as "first thus."

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Newnes reprinted at speed — second impression October 1922, third January 1923, fourth February 1923, fifth May 1923 — in cloth essentially identical to the first, which is why reprints are routinely offered as firsts. The impression number appears on the jacket front from the second impression onward, so a jacketless red-cloth copy cannot be confirmed as a first on binding alone. No book-club issue of the 1922 first is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Just William* by Richmal Crompton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/just-william
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.