Is My Micah Clarke a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Arthur Conan Doyle's third novel, Micah Clarke, was first published by Longmans, Green & Co. on 25 February 1889
• The first-issue binding is dark blue cloth over bevelled boards, with gilt titles on the spine and upper cover and patterned 'swan and ship' endpapers, and a 16-page publisher's catalogue dated January 1889 bound in at the rear
• A separate American issue exists as well, printed from the same English sheets but bound in New York in matching dark blue cloth over bevelled boards, collating to 421 pages plus two pages of advertisements rather than the English edition's 16-page catalogue

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 English Longmans first edition holds priority. The New York-bound copies were run off from imported English sheets rather than an independent American typesetting, making them a binding variant of the English edition rather than a true separate American first edition; Harper & Brothers' authorized American edition followed later, issued first in wrappers in the Franklin Square Library in 1889 and then in cloth in 1894.P-035034

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later 1889 reprints and the Longmans Silver Library edition, first issued in January 1890, are cheaper, later states that lack the January 1889 catalogue and other first-issue binding points.P-035035

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Micah Clarke a first edition?

A first edition of Micah Clarke by Arthur Conan Doyle (Longmans, Green & Co.) is identified by: Arthur Conan Doyle's third novel, Micah Clarke, was first published by Longmans, Green & Co.

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 English Longmans first edition holds priority.

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

Later 1889 reprints and the Longmans Silver Library edition, first issued in January 1890, are cheaper, later states that lack the January 1889 catalogue and other first-issue binding points.

I have a first edition of Micah Clarke — 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.