# Is "Life's Handicap" by Rudyard Kipling a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Life's Handicap by Rudyard Kipling (Macmillan and Co., 1891) is identified by: First published in August 1891 by Macmillan and Co., printed by R.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in August 1891 by Macmillan and Co., printed by R. & R. Clark of Edinburgh, collecting twenty-seven stories, most drawn from British India, including 'The Man Who Was' and 'The City of Dreadful Night.' The first edition is octavo, 351 pages plus an 8-page publisher's catalogue
- The first-issue sheets lack the word 'October' on the copyright page, a point that distinguishes them from the September and October 1891 reprints issued the same year; dealers describe surviving first-edition copies in more than one contemporary cloth binding, so cover color alone should not be relied on as an issue point
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rudyard Kipling |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1891 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in August 1891 by Macmillan and Co., printed by R. & R. Clark of Edinburgh, collecting twenty-seven stories, most drawn… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in August 1891 by Macmillan and Co., printed by R. & R. Clark of Edinburgh, collecting twenty-seven stories, most drawn from British India, including 'The Man Who Was' and 'The City of Dreadful Night.' The first edition is octavo, 351 pages plus an 8-page publisher's catalogue. The first-issue sheets lack the word 'October' on the copyright page, a point that distinguishes them from the September and October 1891 reprints issued the same year; dealers describe surviving first-edition copies in more than one contemporary cloth binding, so cover color alone should not be relied on as an issue point.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprints from later in 1891, with 'October' added to the copyright page, are not the first issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Life's Handicap* by Rudyard Kipling a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lifes-handicap
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.