Is My The Damnation of Theron Ware a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, octavo, 512 pages, printed at the University Press, Cambridge
• Bound in dark green cloth with gilt titling and decoration on the spine and boards, the Stone & Kimball monogram stamped in gilt on both upper and lower boards, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed
• The book went through rapid successive printings labeled 'second edition' (June 1896), 'third edition' (September 1896), and further states through a 'sixth edition' (December 1896)
• The true first and second states are textually identical except for the copyright-page wording, so the printing statement on the copyright page (absence of any 'edition' notice) is the operative first-edition point

How Stone & Kimball marked a first edition

• 1895-1896 (New York / partnership split): when Kimball left, he took the book business and the Stone & Kimball name to New York, where the imprint appears briefly before the business failed and was reorganized as the Che…
• Authoritative reference: Sidney Kramer, 'A History of Stone & Kimball and Herbert S. Stone & Co., with a Bibliography of Their Publications, 1893-1905' (1940), which supplies issue points title by title.

Full Stone & Kimball 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 American 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 novel was also published in England the same year under the title Illumination (William Heinemann, London); the chronological relationship between the English and American editions is not clearly established in accessible sources, so no priority claim is made here.P-034704

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Copies stating 'Second Edition' through 'Sixth Edition' on the copyright page are later 1896 printings, not the first edition, even though textually near-identical to it.P-034705

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Damnation of Theron Ware a first edition?

A first edition of The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic (Stone & Kimball) is identified by: First edition, octavo, 512 pages, printed at the University Press, Cambridge.

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 novel was also published in England the same year under the title Illumination (William Heinemann, London); the chronological relationship between the English and American editions is not clearly established in accessible sources, so no priority claim is made here.

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

Copies stating 'Second Edition' through 'Sixth Edition' on the copyright page are later 1896 printings, not the first edition, even though textually near-identical to it.

I have a first edition of The Damnation of Theron Ware — 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.