Is My Renascence and Other Poems a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, Yost 3: Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1917 — Millay's first book, printed by Vail-Ballou of Binghamton, New York
• 12mo, [vi], 73 pp., in publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and on the upper cover, edges untrimmed/deckled
• There is no printing statement and no number line; the issue is decided by the paper, not the title page
• FIRST ISSUE: leaves watermarked 'AGM Glaslan', deckle-edged, with the blank leaves present at front and back (a blank preceding the half-title)
• SECOND ISSUE of the same printing: leaves watermarked 'MBM', the front and rear blanks absent, and punctuation corrected
• A further variant on laid paper watermarked 'MB' is recorded

How Mitchell Kennerley, New York marked a first edition

• c.1906–c.1924: No formal 'first edition' statement. First printings are identified by the absence of later-printing notices and by the title-page date matching the copyright date; production points and binding/jacket sta…
• A fine-printing house: typography (notably Goudy's Kennerley Old Style) and careful book production are characteristic but are not by themselves printing points.

Full Mitchell Kennerley, New York 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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-only original; Millay wrote in English and there is no competing UK or original-language edition. The census is confirmed on publisher, year and the Glaslan-watermark first-issue point. The census's further claim of '15 large-paper copies' is REFUTED — no source located corroborates any large-paper or limitation issue of this book, and no dealer or auction description examined records a limitation page. The claim appears to conflate this title with the separate limited printing of 'Renascence: A Poem', a small signed printing variously reported at roughly 126 to 186 copies, which is a different publication. It is not repeated here. Separately, the title poem had appeared earlier in the anthology The Lyric Year (Mitchell Kennerley, 1912): that is first-in-print for 'Renascence', but it is not the book.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tell is the imprint: Harper & Brothers took Millay over and reissued the collection, so any Harper copy is a reprint however the date reads — dealers state the point as 'published by Kennerley (not Harper)'. Within Kennerley copies, the MBM and MB watermarks and the missing front/rear blanks mark the later issues of the first printing, not a later edition. Modern facsimile and print-on-demand copies of the 1917 sheets circulate and carry modern ISBNs.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Renascence and Other Poems a first edition?

A first edition of Renascence and Other Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay (Mitchell Kennerley, New York) is identified by: First edition, Yost 3: Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1917 — Millay's first book, printed by Vail-Ballou of Binghamton, New York.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US-only original; Millay wrote in English and there is no competing UK or original-language edition.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tell is the imprint: Harper & Brothers took Millay over and reissued the collection, so any Harper copy is a reprint however the date reads — dealers state the point as 'published by Kennerley (not Harper)'. Within Kennerley copies, the MBM and MB watermarks and the missing front/rear blanks mark the later issues of the first printing, not a later edition. Modern facsimile and print-on-demand copies of the 1917 sheets circulate and carry modern ISBNs

I have a first edition of Renascence and Other Poems — 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.