Is My Pollyanna a First Edition?

The points of issue

• L. C. Page firsts are identified by the impression statement printed on the copyright page (verso of the title leaf); the first printing reads "First Impression, February, 1913" and names no later impression
• Because Page reprinted from the same setting continuously, a 1913-dated copy is very often a later impression — the twelfth impression is dated October 1913 and the twentieth impression February 1914, so the stated month is decisive, not the title-page year
• Later impressions list the accumulated impression sequence on the copyright page (the Library of Congress copy runs "First impression, February, 1913... forty-seventh impression, January, 1920")
• Collation is reported as x, 310, [6], 10 pp., including publisher's advertisements, with a frontispiece and full-page black-and-white plates by Stockton Mulford
• Binding is not a printing point: publisher's cloth is reported in a copper/pink watered or "wave" cloth stamped in gilt and in a pink fleur-de-lys cloth, and the Internet Archive's copy in pink watered cloth is the twentieth impression
• A secondary tell: the 1913 first carries the "L. C. Page & Company" imprint, while copies imprinted "The Page Company" reflect the firm's later name and are later impressions

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 US 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?

US L. C. Page & Company, Boston, 1913 is the true first; the census claim is confirmed. No UK or other-language edition precedes it — Page was the originating publisher. The trap here is terminological rather than geographic: every one of Page's forty-seven impressions through January 1920 is the "first edition" in the strict bibliographical sense (one setting of type), so dealer copy reading "first edition" routinely describes a later impression. Only the stated February 1913 first impression is the first printing.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tell is the copyright-page impression statement: any month later than February 1913, or a list of multiple impressions, marks a reprint. Copies with no impression statement at all, or with "The Page Company" imprint, are later still.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pollyanna a first edition?

A first edition of Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter (L. C. Page & Company) is identified by: Page firsts are identified by the impression statement printed on the copyright page (verso of the title leaf); the first printing reads "First Impression, February, 1913" and names no later impression.

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. US L.

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

No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tell is the copyright-page impression statement: any month later than February 1913, or a list of multiple impressions, marks a reprint. Copies with no impression statement at all, or with "The Page Company" imprint, are later still.

I have a first edition of Pollyanna — 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.