Is My Copy of Lassie Come-Home a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printings state "Copyright, 1940" on the copyright page with no indication of any further printing
• Winston stated later printings explicitly, and dealers routinely catalogue copies as "First Edition
• Twenty-First Printing"
• and similar, so any stated printing number rules out the first
• The binding is bright yellow/gold pictorial cloth with Lassie's head on the front cover and black lettering to the spine, with a publisher-applied pale orange top stain and cartographic endpapers tracing Lassie's route home
• Illustrations are by Marguerite Kirmse: a color frontispiece on glossy paper plus six black-and-white plates and numerous in-text drawings; collation is approximately 248 pages, octavo

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

Although Knight was English-born, the novel appeared first in the United States — The John C. Winston Company, 1940, illustrated by Marguerite Kirmse. The first UK edition is Cassell & Company, London, 1941 (brown cloth, priced jacket, with the Kirmse frontispiece and map endpapers) and is collected as the first British edition only. Precedence for the story itself runs earlier still: "Lassie Come-Home" first appeared as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post, 17 December 1938, which Knight later expanded into the 1940 novel — the magazine appearance is the first appearance in print, the Winston 1940 the first in book form. Cited in Carpenter & Prichard 304.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A People's Book Club (Chicago) issue carrying the 1940 copyright is recorded and is a club reprint, not the first. Grosset & Dunlap reprints of the text exist and are self-identifying by imprint. Winston's own later printings state the printing number on the copyright page; a stated "Copyright, 1940" with nothing further is the first-printing condition.P-044335

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lassie Come-Home a first edition?

A first edition of Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight (The John C. Winston Company) is identified by: First printings state "Copyright, 1940" on the copyright page with no indication of any further printing; Winston stated later printings explicitly, and dealers routinely catalogue copies as "First Edition; Twenty-First Printing" (1945) and similar, so any stated printing number rules out the first.

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. Although Knight was English-born, the novel appeared first in the United States — The John C. Winston Company, 1940, illustrated by Marguerite Kirmse.

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

A People's Book Club (Chicago) issue carrying the 1940 copyright is recorded and is a club reprint, not the first. Grosset & Dunlap reprints of the text exist and are self-identifying by imprint. Winston's own later printings state the printing number on the copyright page; a stated "Copyright, 1940" with nothing further is the first-printing condition.

I have a first edition of Lassie Come-Home — 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.