Is My Kidnapped a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition, London 1886
• The first-issue points are textual: page 40 line 11 reads 'business'; page 64 line 1 reads 'nine o'clock'; page 101 lines 9-10 read 'Long Islands' (these readings were altered in later printings)
• The folding map of David Balfour's wanderings is present as a frontispiece and the half-title is present; green cloth gilt
• Rear publisher's advertisements bear date codes (such as 5G.4.86 and 5B.4.86) consistent with early 1886 issue

How Cassell & Company marked a first edition

• First printing = era-appropriate (title-page date pre-1920s / copyright statement after) with no reprint notation

Full Cassell & Company first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
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?

The Cassell London 1886 edition is the true first; the US Scribner edition is secondary. The folding map is part of the book in all copies and is not itself a first-issue point — the textual readings on pages 40, 64, and 101 are the decisive points.P-027508

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings correct the page 40, 64, and 101 readings and carry differently dated rear advertisements.P-027509

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Kidnapped a first edition?

A first edition of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (Cassell & Company) is identified by: First book edition, London 1886.

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. The Cassell London 1886 edition is the true first; the US Scribner edition is secondary.

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

Later printings correct the page 40, 64, and 101 readings and carry differently dated rear advertisements.

I have a first edition of Kidnapped — 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.