Is My Odd John a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Full title 'Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest'
• First edition, published 3 October 1935; small octavo, bound in blue cloth (light blue cloth with the spine lettering in dark blue)
• Jacket art by Eric Fraser — the celebrated 'odd' jacket
• The eight-page publisher's catalogue at the rear exists in two states, dated '535' (May 1935) and '835' (August 1935)
• CURREY ASSIGNS NO PRIORITY between them: both were bound into first-issue copies published on the same day, so a '535' catalogue is not evidence of an earlier book, and dealer language calling '535' the 'true first issue' overstates the point (the inference that the 535 sheets were inserted first is reasonable but is not a documented priority)
• Currey additionally records later issues made up from remainder sheets of the same first printing and bound in wrappers with the front panel of the dust jacket mounted on the upper wrapper (Currey binding C; Currey issue F is the sixth issue and the second of the two issues in wraps)

How Methuen & Co., London marked a first edition

• Since 1905: state "First published in [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page of firsts, with later printings noted

Full Methuen & Co., London 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?

Census claim confirmed. Methuen (London, 1935) is the true first edition. The first American edition is E. P. Dutton & Co. (New York, 1936), collating [i-iv] v [vi] 1-282. BOTH are collected and must be named separately in any catalogue — the Methuen as the true first, the Dutton as the first American. There is no foreign-language original; the book was written in English.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the Methuen printing is documented. The trap here is the wrappered issues: softcover copies made up from surplus/remainder sheets of the first printing and issued some years after the hardback, with the jacket's front panel pasted to the upper wrapper. These contain genuine first-printing sheets and are routinely offered as 'first edition' — accurate as to the sheets, but they are later issues in wraps, not the 1935 first edition in blue cloth.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Odd John a first edition?

A first edition of Odd John by Olaf Stapledon (Methuen & Co., London) is identified by: Full title 'Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest'.

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. Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club edition of the Methuen printing is documented. The trap here is the wrappered issues: softcover copies made up from surplus/remainder sheets of the first printing and issued some years after the hardback, with the jacket's front panel pasted to the upper wrapper. These contain genuine first-printing sheets and are routinely offered as 'first edition' — accurate as to the sheets, but they are later issues in wraps, not the 1935 first edition in blue cloth.

I have a first edition of Odd John — 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.