# Is "Tarka the Otter" by Henry Williamson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson (Privately printed at the Chiswick Press, 1927) is identified by: CENSUS CORRECTION: the absolute true first is NOT Putnam but the privately printed subscribers' edition of 100 copies, August 1927 — signed by the author with his owl device above a typed label, printed at the Chiswick Press on English handmade paper, bound in full vellum with a brown leather spine label, the owl device also on title page and colophon. Precedence is entirely within the UK: the privately printed 100-copy vellum limited (August 1927) is the true first; the Putnam, London trade edition (October 1927) is the first ordinary edition and the copy most collectors mean by 'first.' The first US edition is E.P.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- CENSUS CORRECTION: the absolute true first is NOT Putnam but the privately printed subscribers' edition of 100 copies, August 1927 — signed by the author with his owl device above a typed label, printed at the Chiswick Press on English handmade paper, bound in full vellum with a brown leather spine label, the owl device also on title page and colophon
- This precedes G.P. Putnam's Sons (London), which in October 1927 issued a second limited edition of 1,000 copies in half brown cloth/cream buckram AND the first ordinary (trade) edition — the trade issue with an introduction by Sir John Fortescue and a dust jacket by Hester Sainsbury
- The census attribution to Putnam names only the first TRADE edition
- Identify the true first by the vellum binding, the 100-copy limitation, the author's signature, and the brown owl device
- Publisher imprint reads Privately printed at the Chiswick Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry Williamson |
| Publisher | Privately printed at the Chiswick Press |
| Year | 1927 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | CENSUS CORRECTION: the absolute true first is NOT Putnam but the privately printed subscribers' edition of 100 copies, August 1927 — signed… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
CENSUS CORRECTION: the absolute true first is NOT Putnam but the privately printed subscribers' edition of 100 copies, August 1927 — signed by the author with his owl device above a typed label, printed at the Chiswick Press on English handmade paper, bound in full vellum with a brown leather spine label, the owl device also on title page and colophon. This precedes G.P. Putnam's Sons (London), which in October 1927 issued a second limited edition of 1,000 copies in half brown cloth/cream buckram AND the first ordinary (trade) edition — the trade issue with an introduction by Sir John Fortescue and a dust jacket by Hester Sainsbury. The census attribution to Putnam names only the first TRADE edition. Identify the true first by the vellum binding, the 100-copy limitation, the author's signature, and the brown owl device.

## Is this the true first?
Precedence is entirely within the UK: the privately printed 100-copy vellum limited (August 1927) is the true first; the Putnam, London trade edition (October 1927) is the first ordinary edition and the copy most collectors mean by 'first.' The first US edition is E.P. Dutton, New York (February 1928).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Putnam trade edition and the 1,000-copy Putnam limited both follow the 100-copy privately printed first; do not conflate the vellum limited with the cloth trade issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Tarka the Otter* by Henry Williamson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/tarka-the-otter
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.