Is My The Call of the Wild a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing's copyright page reads "Set up, electrotyped, and published July, 1903" and NOTHING FURTHER — the single most reliable point
• Later printings add a reprint list beneath it reading "Reprinted July
• August, September, December 1903
• January, March 1904," so any copy carrying "Reprinted" lines is not a first printing
• Bound in vertically ribbed green cloth pictorially stamped in red, white/black and gilt, top edge gilt with other edges uncut; illustrated endpapers, a color frontispiece with bound tissue guard, a two-color illustrated title page, and 10 tipped-in full-page color plates by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull
• BAL 11876

How The Macmillan Company marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, pre-late-1800s: no printing statement was used. Treat the book as a first only when the date on the TITLE page matches the last (latest) date on the copyright page. A title-page year EARLIER than the latest…

Full The Macmillan 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?

The US Macmillan, New York, July 1903 edition is the true first, confirming the census claim; the William Heinemann, London, 1903 edition is the first English edition, illustrated with 17 plates by Charles Edward Hooper, and is separately collected. REFUTED: a claim recycled across several online listings holds that the Heinemann preceded Macmillan by a month and that the American first was "issued without illustrations." Both are false — the Macmillan first is dated July 1903 on its own copyright page and contains the color frontispiece and 10 tipped-in plates. Do not repeat that claim. The exact month of the Heinemann could not be settled from the sources consulted (some copies are dated 1904), so its precise position after the Macmillan is left open. Note also that the true first appearance in any form is the serialization in The Saturday Evening Post, 20 June to 18 July 1903, in five installments, which precedes the first book edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The dominant trap is the Grosset & Dunlap reprint, which carries the original 1903 Macmillan copyright yet is a reprint: check for the Grosset & Dunlap imprint at the spine foot and on the title page. The 1906 Grosset & Dunlap was printed from Macmillan's November 1906 sheets and is identified by "Macmillan's Standard Library" at the spine and at the head of the half-title; a 1915 Grosset & Dunlap printing states "SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED MAY 1915" on the copyright page. No book-club issue applies to the 1903 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Call of the Wild a first edition?

A first edition of The Call of the Wild by Jack London (The Macmillan Company) is identified by: The first printing's copyright page reads "Set up, electrotyped, and published July, 1903" and NOTHING FURTHER — the single most reliable point.

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. The US Macmillan, New York, July 1903 edition is the true first, confirming the census claim; the William Heinemann, London, 1903 edition is the first English edition, illustrated with 17 plates by Charles Edward Hooper, and is separately collected.

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

The dominant trap is the Grosset & Dunlap reprint, which carries the original 1903 Macmillan copyright yet is a reprint: check for the Grosset & Dunlap imprint at the spine foot and on the title page. The 1906 Grosset & Dunlap was printed from Macmillan's November 1906 sheets and is identified by "Macmillan's Standard Library" at the spine and at the head of the half-title; a 1915 Grosset & Dunlap printing states "SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED MAY 1915" on the copyright page. No book-club issue applie

I have a first edition of The Call of the Wild — 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.