Is My Copy of Stories from The Arabian Nights (text retold by Laurence Housman) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The 1907 first edition contains 50 mounted colour plates by Dulac (the standard collation counts the colour frontispiece within the 50; i.e. frontispiece plus 49 further plates), the plates mounted on grey/brown/dark stock and protected by captioned printed tissue guards, with cover and title-page designs also by Dulac; text is Laurence Housman's retelling, collated [2], xvi, 133 pp., 4to
• Two 1907 issues exist: the signed DELUXE LIMITED of 350 numbered copies in publisher's full gilt-stamped vellum, top edge gilt, other edges uncut, with a limitation leaf hand-signed and numbered by Dulac, issued with ties and a slipcase (Hughey 16
• White p. 200, no
• 3); and the ordinary TRADE first in publisher's pictorial orange cloth gilt (Hughey 16a) carrying the same 50 plates
• For this gift-book the signed/numbered vellum limited is the prized form
• Identification only — no valuation

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 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?

True first is the 1907 issue. The London (Hodder & Stoughton) and New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) issues were published simultaneously in 1907, described in the trade as identical apart from the publisher's imprint, so — contrary to a "London-primary" assumption — this title behaves like the Rackham simultaneous UK/US pairs rather than a British-only first; neither imprint has clear textual precedence. Within either imprint, the signed/numbered full-vellum limited of 350 copies (Hughey 16) is the prized collecting form, with the trade cloth issue (Hughey 16a) the ordinary first. Standard references: White, Edmund Dulac (p. 200, no. 3); Hughey 16 / 16a.P-007585

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Hodder & Stoughton trade reprints reuse the 1907 title-page date and are hard to distinguish by date alone; watch for reduced plate counts (later, cheaper printings drop plates), thinner/whiter paper, plates printed on the page rather than separately mounted with tissue guards, and cheaper cloth or later binding settings. A genuine first shows all 50 mounted colour plates with printed tissue guards present. The vellum limited is authenticated by the signed/numbered limitation leaf (X of 350 in Dulac's hand); a vellum-look copy lacking the signed limitation leaf is not the deluxe issue. No confirmed contemporaneous book-club issue.P-007586

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Stories from The Arabian Nights (text retold by Laurence Housman) a first edition?

A first edition of Stories from The Arabian Nights (text retold by Laurence Housman) by Edmund Dulac (Hodder & Stoughton) is identified by: The 1907 first edition contains 50 mounted colour plates by Dulac (the standard collation counts the colour frontispiece within the 50; i.e. frontispiece plus 49 further plates), the plates mounted on grey/brown/dark stock and protected by captioned printed tissue guards, with cover and title-page designs also by Dulac; text is Laurence Housman's retelling, collated [2], xvi, 133 pp., 4to.

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. True first is the 1907 issue.

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

Later Hodder & Stoughton trade reprints reuse the 1907 title-page date and are hard to distinguish by date alone; watch for reduced plate counts (later, cheaper printings drop plates), thinner/whiter paper, plates printed on the page rather than separately mounted with tissue guards, and cheaper cloth or later binding settings. A genuine first shows all 50 mounted colour plates with printed tissue guards present.

I have a first edition of Stories from The Arabian Nights (text retold by Laurence Housman) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.