Is My Copy of Kim a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two editions, both collected
• US (true first): Doubleday, Page & Co., New York, 1 October 1901 — green ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt with a boat stamped in black on the front board and spine, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed; ten black-and-white plates including the frontispiece, reproducing bas-reliefs by the author's father, John Lockwood Kipling
• English: Macmillan & Co., London, 17 October 1901 — red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with Kipling's gilt 'Ganesha' roundel on the front board (the elephant's head with trunk curled down holding a lotus, and a small right-facing swastika set between the forehead and the enclosing circle), top edge gilt; illustrated from J. L. Kipling's bas-reliefs
• Richards A174
• Stewart 254
• Collation of the Macmillan is given by most ABAA/ABA cataloguers as [vi], 413, [2] pp., the final two pages being publisher's advertisements at the rear, and one dealer source treats those 2 pp. of ads as a first-issue point; a further catalogue gives 443 pp., so exact collation should be treated as unsettled pending the bibliography

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 London Macmillan is not the true first, and the US priority is not a matter of days. The Kipling Society's Readers' Guide, corroborated by dealer consensus, gives Doubleday, Page & Co. (New York) 1 October 1901 and Macmillan & Co. (London) 17 October 1901 — the American edition precedes by sixteen days. That is a documented two-week interval, not an arguable matter of days, and it makes the Doubleday the true first edition. The Macmillan is the first English edition and is by a wide margin the more sought-after and more finely produced of the two; it is properly described as the first English edition rather than the first. Serialisation preceded both books: McClure's Magazine (US) December 1900–October 1901, and Cassell's Magazine (UK) January–November 1901.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A 'Second American Edition' followed within 1901 per the Kipling Society, and later Doubleday, Page and Doubleday, Doran printings are common. The principal reprint traps are Macmillan's long-running Uniform and Pocket editions, published and frequently reprinted from 1899 into the 1950s: they carry the same Ganesha device and red or blue cloth but bear a series designation and a later date. Note carefully that the Ganesha/swastika device is a dating aid and not a first-edition point — use of the emblem ceased in the early 1930s once the symbol was appropriated in Germany, so its presence establishes only that a copy predates roughly 1933.P-039607

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Kim a first edition?

A first edition of Kim by Rudyard Kipling (Doubleday, Page & Co.) is identified by: Two editions, both collected.

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 London Macmillan is not the true first, and the US priority is not a matter of days.

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

A 'Second American Edition' followed within 1901 per the Kipling Society, and later Doubleday, Page and Doubleday, Doran printings are common. The principal reprint traps are Macmillan's long-running Uniform and Pocket editions, published and frequently reprinted from 1899 into the 1950s: they carry the same Ganesha device and red or blue cloth but bear a series designation and a later date.

I have a first edition of Kim — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.