Is My Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York, October 1903
• Small 8vo / 12mo, in pictorial green cloth — light green cloth with darker green blindstamped ruling and a pictorial paste-on, with green and orange decoration and titling
• Two states are recognised and the sequence runs as follows
• Earliest state: the publisher's imprint on the spine is in type 1/16 inch high; page 325, line 9 reads 'Don't go to the side door;'; and page 327, line 13 reads 'sun of that October noon'
• Later issue: the publisher's spine imprint is the printed price inch high, and page 327, line 13 has been reset to read 'bricks, glowing in the October sun'
• CRITICAL CAVEAT for anyone using dealer listings — many invert this and advertise the printed price-inch spine imprint as a first-edition point

How Houghton, Mifflin and Company marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton, Mifflin and Company 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 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 Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York, 1903 is the true first, and the census is correct — Wiggin was American and the book was published in Boston in October 1903. The first UK edition is Gay and Bird, London, 1903, in publisher's orange buckram with gilt lettering to spine and boards; it followed the American edition and is properly catalogued as the first UK edition, not as a true first. Collectors of the title generally pursue the Houghton Mifflin first in its earliest state; the Gay and Bird is collected as the English first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Houghton Mifflin reprinted the title continuously from the same setting while retaining the title-page date, and it was later reissued in numerous juvenile and school series; the 1931 and 2003 Houghton editions are later editions. Grosset & Dunlap and comparable reprint-house issues are reprints. Determine state by the spine-imprint height and the page 325 and page 327 readings, never by the title-page date. On the scarce jacketed copies the jacket is teal with navy lettering and is a priced jacket, with the price present at the spine/flap — a jacket lacking the printed price, or carrying a clipped or overprinted one, is a tell for a later issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm a first edition?

A first edition of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin (Houghton, Mifflin and Company) is identified by: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York, October 1903.

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 Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York, 1903 is the true first, and the census is correct — Wiggin was American and the book was published in Boston in October 1903.

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

Houghton Mifflin reprinted the title continuously from the same setting while retaining the title-page date, and it was later reissued in numerous juvenile and school series; the 1931 and 2003 Houghton editions are later editions. Grosset & Dunlap and comparable reprint-house issues are reprints. Determine state by the spine-imprint height and the page 325 and page 327 readings, never by the title-page date. On the scarce jacketed copies the jacket is teal with navy lettering and is a priced jac

I have a first edition of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm — 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.