Is My Kokoro a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August 1914 under the serial title Kokoro: Sensei no isho
• The defining point is that Sōseki designed the entire book himself, a break from his earlier practice of commissioning professional designers: by his own account he devised and drew the box, cover, endpapers, title page and colophon, including the patterns, calligraphy, seal impressions and the kenin (inspection) stamps
• The spine reads こゝろ while the box carries 心; the title page reproduces a facsimile of the 心 entry from the Kangxi Dictionary; the endpaper bears Sōseki's red seal, and the colophon leaf carries the motto Ars longa, vita brevis
• The book was effectively author-financed — Sōseki paid production costs and the young bookseller Iwanami Shigeo sold it — which is why it stands as Iwanami Shoten's first literary publication
• A complete copy retains the publisher's box

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 UK 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?

Japanese true first (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1914). The census claim that the first complete English is Regnery, Chicago 1957 is NOT confirmed and is likely wrong: an English Kokoro translated by Ineko Sato (later Kondo) appeared in Tokyo in 1941 and was reviewed in Studies in English Literature in April 1942. Sources conflict on its publisher — the contemporaneous 1942 review gives Hokuseido, Tokyo, while Wikipedia gives Kenkyusha — and no source consulted establishes whether it is complete or abridged; a Castalia Library survey of the translations states outright that the 1941 text is effectively unseen. Edwin McClellan's translation (Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1957) is the first Western-published English edition and the one collected in the West: vi + 248 pp., blue cloth with a red title band and gilt spine lettering, in a white jacket with pale blue and black titles designed by Renee Walkoe; look for an unclipped jacket with the price present at the flap. UK precedence against the 1957 Regnery was not established.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Iwanami itself issues a facsimile reprint of the 1914 first in its 岩波文芸書初版本復刻シリーズ (first-edition facsimile reprint series), reissued for the 2014 centenary. These reproduce the box, cover, Kangxi 心 device and Sōseki's seals faithfully and are routinely mistaken for the 1914 original — check the colophon for the 復刻 (fukkoku) reprint statement and its reprint date. Later bunko and paperback issues of the Japanese text, and later Regnery and paperback reissues of the McClellan translation, are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Kokoro a first edition?

A first edition of Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo) is identified by: Published 20 September 1914 (Taishō 3) by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, following serialization in the Asahi Shimbun from 20 April to 11 August 1914 under the serial title Kokoro: Sensei no isho.

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. Japanese true first (Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1914).

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

Iwanami itself issues a facsimile reprint of the 1914 first in its 岩波文芸書初版本復刻シリーズ (first-edition facsimile reprint series), reissued for the 2014 centenary. These reproduce the box, cover, Kangxi 心 device and Sōseki's seals faithfully and are routinely mistaken for the 1914 original — check the colophon for the 復刻 (fukkoku) reprint statement and its reprint date. Later bunko and paperback issues of the Japanese text, and later Regnery and paperback reissues of the McClellan translation, are repr

I have a first edition of Kokoro — 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.