Is My Mary Poppins a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, Gerald Howe Ltd, London, 1934, with 'First Published 1934' on the copyright page and no later printing statement
• Bound in publisher's yellow cloth stamped in dark blue
• 206 pages plus preliminaries, with 27 line illustrations by Mary Shepard (13 of them full-page) plus chapter tailpieces, and pictorial endpapers; approximately 7 the printed price x 4 the printed price inches
• The first-issue jacket is grey with the Mary Shepard illustration printed in yellow, and is a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap - price-clipping destroys that point
• One UK dealer listing describes a dark blue cloth copy, but the auction records and the ABAA description consulted agree on yellow cloth stamped in dark blue, so treat a blue-cloth copy offered as a UK first with suspicion: blue cloth is the American binding

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 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?

The census claim that Gerald Howe, London, 1934 is the true first is upheld on trade consensus rather than on a dated citation. Whitmore Rare Books catalogues the Howe printing simply as the first edition, Doyle offered it as 'the first edition of the first Mary Poppins book', Tennants catalogued it as the first edition, and every Reynal & Hitchcock copy consulted is catalogued as the first AMERICAN edition - a term of art conceding it is not the true first. However, no source consulted supplies a month- or day-level publication date for either 1934 issue, so the ordering is the settled trade position and not a proven date gap; readers should treat it as such. Both editions are collected. The first American edition is Reynal & Hitchcock, New York, 1934, bound in publisher's blue cloth stamped in darker blue, illustrated with the same 27 Mary Shepard line cuts, and issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the flap.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Some Howe copies carry a wrap-around 'Junior Book Club' promotional band; this is a promotional band on the trade issue, not a book-club reprint, and its survival is a bonus rather than a demerit. A later-issue text tell that cuts across printings: the original 1934 'Bad Tuesday' chapter was rewritten by Travers in 1967 and revised again in 1981, so any copy carrying the revised chapter is post-1966 regardless of what its copyright page claims. Gerald Howe did not publish the sequel - Mary Poppins Comes Back came from Lovat Dickson in 1935 - so a 'matched set' in Howe bindings is not possible.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mary Poppins a first edition?

A first edition of Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (illustrated by Mary Shepard) (Gerald Howe Ltd) is identified by: First edition, Gerald Howe Ltd, London, 1934, with 'First Published 1934' on the copyright page and no later printing statement.

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. The census claim that Gerald Howe, London, 1934 is the true first is upheld on trade consensus rather than on a dated citation.

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

Some Howe copies carry a wrap-around 'Junior Book Club' promotional band; this is a promotional band on the trade issue, not a book-club reprint, and its survival is a bonus rather than a demerit. A later-issue text tell that cuts across printings: the original 1934 'Bad Tuesday' chapter was rewritten by Travers in 1967 and revised again in 1981, so any copy carrying the revised chapter is post-1966 regardless of what its copyright page claims. Gerald Howe did not publish the sequel - Mary Poppi

I have a first edition of Mary Poppins — 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.