Is My Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (eds. J.R.R. Tolkien & E.V. Gordon) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first impression: "Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1925", edited by Tolkien (main text and glossary) and E. V. Gordon (the greater part of the notes), with introduction and a linguistic appendix; approximately 211-212 pages
• Bound in original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers ruled in gilt and blind, the front cover stamped with an axe device in gilt, edges untrimmed
• A frontispiece and a further plate reproduce the sole surviving manuscript (British Library, Cotton Nero A.x)
• The load-bearing point of issue is the errata leaf tipped in after p. vi, as issued — its presence is called for in first-impression copies and ABA/ILAB dealers describe it that way
• Peter Harrington's description reads "tipped in after p. vi, as issued"
• Hammond & Anderson's descriptive bibliography records a printing of 2,500 copies, the figure repeated by Tolkien Gateway and by dealers; the count is attributed rather than independently re-counted here

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 UK 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?

UK only — Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1925 is the true first; there is no simultaneous or earlier US edition, so precedence is not contested. One census correction: this is not Tolkien's debut. His first published book is A Middle English Vocabulary (Clarendon Press, 1922); Sir Gawain (1925) is his second book. It is correctly distinguished from the posthumously issued verse translation Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo (Allen & Unwin, 1975), which is a different work by Tolkien and not an edition of this one.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for this scholarly Clarendon edition. The real traps are all "first thus": the many Clarendon reprints and corrected impressions issued between 1925 and 1966 under the identical title and imprint (the 1955 corrected reprint among them), and the 1967 second edition revised by Norman Davis, in which the introduction, notes and appendix are largely rewritten. All are routinely mis-catalogued as "first edition" because the title page looks the same — the impression statement and the tipped-in errata leaf are what separate them. The 1975 Allen & Unwin translation is a further "first thus" trap for keyword searches.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (eds. J.R.R. Tolkien & E.V. Gordon) a first edition?

A first edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (eds. J.R.R. Tolkien & E.V. Gordon) by J.R.R. Tolkien (editor, with E. V. Gordon) (Oxford at the Clarendon Press) is identified by: First edition, first impression: "Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1925", edited by Tolkien (main text and glossary) and E.

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. UK only — Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1925 is the true first; there is no simultaneous or earlier US edition, so precedence is not contested.

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

No book-club issue is documented for this scholarly Clarendon edition. The real traps are all "first thus": the many Clarendon reprints and corrected impressions issued between 1925 and 1966 under the identical title and imprint (the 1955 corrected reprint among them), and the 1967 second edition revised by Norman Davis, in which the introduction, notes and appendix are largely rewritten. All are routinely mis-catalogued as "first edition" because the title page looks the same — the impression s

I have a first edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (eds. J.R.R. Tolkien & E.V. Gordon) — 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.