Is My Millions of Cats a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Coward-McCann, 1928
• The title page ends with three lines: "PUBLISHED IN NEW YORK by / COWARD-McCANN, Inc. / IN THE YEAR 1928"
• The decisive first-printing point is the copyright page, which in the first printing runs to five lines and ends "By the Jersey City Printing Co."; later printings omit that printer's line while retaining the 1928 title-page date
• Bound in publisher's yellow decorated paper-covered boards
• First-printing dust jacket: front and back flaps blank white, back panel blank yellow, and the author's name set as "Gag"
• The second-state jacket adds a biographical paragraph on Wanda Gág, an endorsement by Rockwell Kent and a review by Anne Carroll Moore; sets the name as "Ga'g" (an apostrophe standing in for the accented á, which could not readily be typeset in 1928); and revises the birthplace wording from a desolate Minnesota village to a small Minnesota town

How Coward-McCann marked a first edition

• Generally inconsistent in marking first editions; subsequent printings were usually noted, so the absence of a later-printing notice is the baseline signal (always cross-check title-level point guides).
• Until the mid-1930s: a torch-design colophon on the copyright page typically marked first editions; the torch portion of the colophon was removed on subsequent printings.

Full Coward-McCann 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?

The census claim is confirmed: New York: Coward-McCann, 1928 is the true first. This is a genuine American first with no earlier foreign-language or British precedent — Gág wrote and illustrated the book in English, so there is no original-language trap on this title. The first British edition is London: Faber & Faber, 1929, which appeared in Faber's very first catalogue in the firm's founding year; it is a separate edition collected in its own right and is not the first. The Newbery Honor (1929) and the standing description of the book as the oldest American picture book continuously in print are reputational facts, not identification points, and neither appears on or distinguishes the first printing.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the 1928 first is documented. The controlling reprint tell is the copyright page: a copy dated 1928 on the title page but lacking the "By the Jersey City Printing Co." line is a second issue of the first edition, not a first printing. This is the most-missed distinction on the title, precisely because the 1928 title-page date survives on later printings and reads as conclusive. Second-state jackets (Rockwell Kent endorsement, Anne Carroll Moore review, "Ga'g" spelling, revised Minnesota wording) are frequently married to first-printing books and offered as complete firsts — jacket and book must be checked as separate items. Later Coward-McCann printings and modern reissues retain the 1928 copyright date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Millions of Cats a first edition?

A first edition of Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág (Coward-McCann) is identified by: New York: Coward-McCann, 1928.

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 is confirmed: New York: Coward-McCann, 1928 is the true first.

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

No book-club edition of the 1928 first is documented. The controlling reprint tell is the copyright page: a copy dated 1928 on the title page but lacking the "By the Jersey City Printing Co." line is a second issue of the first edition, not a first printing. This is the most-missed distinction on the title, precisely because the 1928 title-page date survives on later printings and reads as conclusive. Second-state jackets (Rockwell Kent endorsement, Anne Carroll Moore review, "Ga'g" spelling, re

I have a first edition of Millions of Cats — 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.