# Is "The Cuckoo Clock" by Mrs. Molesworth (Mary Louisa Molesworth) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Cuckoo Clock by Mrs. Molesworth (Mary Louisa Molesworth) (Macmillan and Co., 1877) is identified by: First published under the pseudonym 'Ennis Graham' rather than the 'Mrs.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published under the pseudonym 'Ennis Graham' rather than the 'Mrs
- Molesworth' byline the author used from 1882 onward
- The first edition is octavo, collating (vi), 242, (ii)pp, bound in pictorial red cloth stamped in black and gilt, illustrated with a black-and-white frontispiece and six further plates by Walter Crane
- Macmillan published the first edition in London in 1877, while Crane was also at work on his color-printed Edmund Evans toy books of the same period, though this volume's illustrations are black-and-white line work rather than color
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mrs. Molesworth (Mary Louisa Molesworth) |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1877 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First published under the pseudonym 'Ennis Graham' rather than the 'Mrs |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published under the pseudonym 'Ennis Graham' rather than the 'Mrs. Molesworth' byline the author used from 1882 onward. The first edition is octavo, collating (vi), 242, (ii)pp, bound in pictorial red cloth stamped in black and gilt, illustrated with a black-and-white frontispiece and six further plates by Walter Crane. Macmillan published the first edition in London in 1877, while Crane was also at work on his color-printed Edmund Evans toy books of the same period, though this volume's illustrations are black-and-white line work rather than color.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Editions from 1882 onward carry the author's now-familiar byline 'Mrs. Molesworth' rather than 'Ennis Graham'; a first edition must be checked for the pseudonym and the 1877 Macmillan imprint, not just for the presence of Crane's illustrations, which recur in many later printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Cuckoo Clock* by Mrs. Molesworth (Mary Louisa Molesworth) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-cuckoo-clock
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.