Is My Kim a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two editions, both collected; name both
• 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?

Census claim CORRECTED. The census asserts the London Macmillan as the true first and calls the US 'arguably first by days'; both halves are wrong. 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, which is likely what the census note was reaching for; it should be 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.

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; name both.

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. Census claim CORRECTED.

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. Note carefully that the Ganesha/swastika device is a dating aid and not a first-edition point — use of th

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 — 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.