Is My Lost Horizon a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing: Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1933, octavo, in original green cloth with the spine panel stamped in gold
• Collation [1-4] 1-281 [282: blank] [283-284: ads] — i.e. a two-page publisher's catalogue at the rear
• The controlling point is that the first impression carries NO statement of printing on the copyright page; later Macmillan printings add an impression line ('Second impression', etc.)
• Issued in the pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the front-flap verso; unclipped jackets are genuinely scarce because the London first printing was small
• LW Currey's bibliographic description and an ABA/ILAB dealer description agree independently on the green cloth, gilt spine stamping, ~281 pp. plus rear ads, and the absence of a printing statement
• No first-issue state, priority binding or first-state text error is recorded for the London edition

How Macmillan and Co., Limited marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• Macmillan of Canada (Toronto, 1905–2002): the standard reference verdict is that this firm DOES NOT DESIGNATE first editions and provides no marks distinguishing printings. Do not assume a Canadian Macmillan first becaus…

Full Macmillan and Co., Limited first-edition guide →

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 American 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?

Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1933 is the true first and the edition collectors prefer. William Morrow & Company, New York, 1933 is the first American edition — octavo, 277 pp., blind-stamped black boards with gilt lettering to the spine, identified by the 1933 date on the title and copyright pages with no additional printings noted (McBride is the standard reference for Morrow points). Both are collected, and fine Morrow copies are sought. Precedence should be stated with care: the two appeared in the same autumn, and at least one dealer account describes the arrangement as a simultaneous publication on 26 September 1933 rather than a London-then-New-York sequence. What is settled and can be published: the London Macmillan is the priority/preferred edition, and Morrow made small last-minute 'Americanizing' textual changes, so the two texts differ in minor but real respects.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Lost Horizon's enormous reprint afterlife is the trap, and none of it is a first. Grosset & Dunlap issued a First Photoplay Edition (tied to Frank Capra's 1937 film), and in 1939 the novel became Pocket Book No. 1, the launch title of American mass-market paperback publishing — famous, but a reprint. Reader's Club and other reprint-house issues follow. Any copy bearing a Grosset & Dunlap or Pocket Books imprint, or a photoplay/film jacket, is a reprint regardless of the 1933 copyright date carried over onto its copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lost Horizon a first edition?

A first edition of Lost Horizon by James Hilton (Macmillan and Co., Limited) is identified by: First printing: Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1933, octavo, in original green cloth with the spine panel stamped in gold.

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. Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1933 is the true first and the edition collectors prefer.

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

Lost Horizon's enormous reprint afterlife is the trap, and none of it is a first. Grosset & Dunlap issued a First Photoplay Edition (tied to Frank Capra's 1937 film), and in 1939 the novel became Pocket Book No. 1, the launch title of American mass-market paperback publishing — famous, but a reprint. Reader's Club and other reprint-house issues follow. Any copy bearing a Grosset & Dunlap or Pocket Books imprint, or a photoplay/film jacket, is a reprint regardless of the 1933 copyright date carri

I have a first edition of Lost Horizon — 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.