Is My Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, Hodder & Stoughton, London, published late November or early December 1906 in two simultaneous issues
• The trade issue is bound in publisher's russet cloth, lettered and pictorially blocked in gilt on the upper board and spine, all edges tinted brown, with a map of Kensington Gardens printed on the front free endpaper; roughly 125-126 pages of text followed by the plates
• Both issues carry 50 colour plates (colour frontispiece plus 49) tipped onto heavy brown mounts, each with a captioned letterpress tissue guard, together with a small group of black-and-white line drawings (two on the title page, one each at pages 1 and 14)
• The deluxe issue is limited to 500 copies, numbered and signed by Rackham on the limitation leaf, bound in vellum or half-vellum over boards blocked and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt with other edges untrimmed, and issued with silk ties (very often perished or replaced)
• The verso of the Hodder title leaf states 'Copyright in the United States of America by Charles Scribner's Sons.' A common variant, not a defect, is the plates bound together at the rear rather than distributed through the text

How Hodder & Stoughton marked a first edition

• Pre-1940s: no consistent practice — first/later printing identification is unreliable and requires jacket/ad/binding/bibliographic analysis

Full Hodder & Stoughton 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 that Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1906 is the true first is upheld: dealers and auction houses uniformly catalogue the Hodder printing as the first edition, in both the trade issue and the 500-copy signed deluxe issue, and catalogue the Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1906 printing as the first American edition (green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt, the same 50 Rackham plates tipped in at the rear; recorded at Riall p. 74). No source consulted supplies day-level dates for the two 1906 issues, so the UK-over-US ordering rests on trade consensus and on the Scribner copyright notice printed on the Hodder verso, rather than on a documented date gap. Both editions are collected, the signed deluxe being the crown jewel. Critical 'first thus' trap: this is the first SEPARATE and first Rackham-illustrated edition only. The text is lifted, with light revision to read free of its frame story, from chapters 13-18 of Barrie's The Little White Bird (Hodder & Stoughton, London / Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1902), which is the first appearance of the Peter Pan material.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1906 edition. The principal reprint trap is Hodder's own 1912 reissue, described in the trade in near-identical publisher's russet cloth with gilt lettering to spine and upper cover, gilt illustration to the upper cover, and the same 50 tipped-in Rackham plates with captioned tissue guards; the title-page date is the deciding point. Deluxe copies must retain the numbered limitation leaf signed by Rackham - a vellum-bound copy lacking it is not the signed issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens a first edition?

A first edition of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie (illustrated by Arthur Rackham) (Hodder & Stoughton) is identified by: First edition, Hodder & Stoughton, London, published late November or early December 1906 in two simultaneous issues.

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 Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1906 is the true first is upheld: dealers and auction houses uniformly catalogue the Hodder printing as the first edition, in both the trade issue and the 500-copy signed deluxe issue, and catalogue the Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1906 printing as the first American edition (green cloth lettered and decorated in gilt, the same 50 Rackham plates tipped in at the rear; recorded at Riall p.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1906 edition. The principal reprint trap is Hodder's own 1912 reissue, described in the trade in near-identical publisher's russet cloth with gilt lettering to spine and upper cover, gilt illustration to the upper cover, and the same 50 tipped-in Rackham plates with captioned tissue guards; the title-page date is the deciding point. Deluxe copies must retain the numbered limitation leaf signed by Rackham - a vellum-bound copy lacking it is not the signed

I have a first edition of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens — 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.