Is My Martin Eden a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is identified by the copyright-page statement 'Set up and electrotyped
• Published September, 1909,' with no subsequent-printing statement beneath it — this is the standard Macmillan (US) formula of the period and is the decisive point
• Collation is [vi], 411 pp., followed by ten pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear; the ads must be present
• The binding is publisher's blue cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and front cover with decorative stamping to the front cover (dealers describe the decoration's colour inconsistently as grey or green, so treat colour of the stamping as unreliable)
• Offsetting from the frontispiece onto the title page is normal and expected in genuine first printings and is not evidence against a copy
• The jacket is very rarely found, and most surviving copies are jacketless; where a jacket is present it should be a priced jacket with the price at the flap

How The Macmillan Company 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 The Macmillan Company 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 US 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?

US Macmillan (New York), September 1909, is the true first — this is not in doubt and is corroborated across dealer and bibliographic sources. The census claim of a Heinemann (London) 1910 British edition could NOT be independently confirmed: no dealer listing, bibliography, or catalogue record consulted dates a Heinemann Martin Eden to 1910, though Heinemann does appear among the title's publishers and was London's British publisher before Mills & Boon (which took him on only from about 1911-12, so Mills & Boon is not the 1910 British publisher). The British edition and its date are therefore left unstated rather than asserted; the US precedence is unaffected. First serialised in The Pacific Monthly, September 1908 to September 1909, so the book is the first appearance in book form, not the first appearance of the text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporaneous book-club issue is documented — the title predates the modern American book clubs (Book-of-the-Month Club began in 1926). The practical traps are later Macmillan printings and reprint-house editions: any copyright page carrying a printing statement beneath the 'Published September, 1909' line is a later printing, and Grosset & Dunlap and similar reprint editions retain the 1909 date on the title page while lacking the Macmillan copyright formula and the rear advertisements.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Martin Eden a first edition?

A first edition of Martin Eden by Jack London (The Macmillan Company) is identified by: The first printing is identified by the copyright-page statement 'Set up and electrotyped.

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. US Macmillan (New York), September 1909, is the true first — this is not in doubt and is corroborated across dealer and bibliographic sources.

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

No contemporaneous book-club issue is documented — the title predates the modern American book clubs (Book-of-the-Month Club began in 1926). The practical traps are later Macmillan printings and reprint-house editions: any copyright page carrying a printing statement beneath the 'Published September, 1909' line is a later printing, and Grosset & Dunlap and similar reprint editions retain the 1909 date on the title page while lacking the Macmillan copyright formula and the rear advertisements.

I have a first edition of Martin Eden — 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.