# Is "The Diverting History of John Gilpin (text by William Cowper)" by Randolph Caldecott a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Diverting History of John Gilpin (text by William Cowper) by Randolph Caldecott (George Routledge & Sons, London, 1878) is identified by: TRADE FIRST: an individual the printed price Picture Book (toy book) issued in illustrated colour paper wrappers, about 30 pp, roughly 9 x 8.5 in (23 x 21 cm), George Routledge & Sons 1878 (the two inaugural Picture Books, John Gilpin and The House That Jack Built, appeared December 1878), with the wood-engraved colour work executed and printed by Edmund Evans. The true first of the signature work is the standalone 1878 George Routledge & Sons issue of John Gilpin in original colour paper wrappers (colour printing by Edmund Evans) — one of the two inaugural Picture Books (with The House That Jack Built), both dated 1878 and released December 1878.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- TRADE FIRST: an individual the printed price Picture Book (toy book) issued in illustrated colour paper wrappers, about 30 pp, roughly 9 x 8.5 in (23 x 21 cm), George Routledge & Sons 1878 (the two inaugural Picture Books, John Gilpin and The House That Jack Built, appeared December 1878), with the wood-engraved colour work executed and printed by Edmund Evans
- Of the sixteen Caldecott Picture Books, John Gilpin is distinctive as the only one to contain DOUBLE-PAGE colour plates (two of them), alongside full-page colour scenes and monochrome line vignettes
- First-issue dating rests chiefly on the REAR WRAPPER: the publisher's advertisements there should list only titles issued up to 1878, and the small-print Edmund Evans imprint ("Racquet Court, Fleet Street") should NOT carry the "E.C." postal district, which was added only from 1883 — an "E.C." imprint marks a later printing
- DELUXE/COLLECTED FORM: the Picture Books were later gathered as gift books; the grand collected volume is "The Complete Collection of Pictures & Songs" (Routledge, 1887, preface by Austin Dobson, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans), issued in an ordinary trade edition AND a Large Paper Edition limited to 800 numbered copies signed by Edmund Evans — tall folio (about 12 x 15.75 in), cloth-covered boards, gilt spine, top edge gilt
- For John Gilpin specifically the prized true first is the standalone 1878 Routledge shilling issue in original wrappers; the signed limited applies only to the collected 1887 gift book, not to the individual 1878 title
- Publisher imprint reads George Routledge & Sons, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Randolph Caldecott |
| Publisher | George Routledge & Sons, London |
| Year | 1878 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | TRADE FIRST: an individual the printed price Picture Book (toy book) issued in illustrated colour paper wrappers, about 30 pp, roughly 9 x… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
TRADE FIRST: an individual the printed price Picture Book (toy book) issued in illustrated colour paper wrappers, about 30 pp, roughly 9 x 8.5 in (23 x 21 cm), George Routledge & Sons 1878 (the two inaugural Picture Books, John Gilpin and The House That Jack Built, appeared December 1878), with the wood-engraved colour work executed and printed by Edmund Evans. Of the sixteen Caldecott Picture Books, John Gilpin is distinctive as the only one to contain DOUBLE-PAGE colour plates (two of them), alongside full-page colour scenes and monochrome line vignettes. First-issue dating rests chiefly on the REAR WRAPPER: the publisher's advertisements there should list only titles issued up to 1878, and the small-print Edmund Evans imprint ("Racquet Court, Fleet Street") should NOT carry the "E.C." postal district, which was added only from 1883 — an "E.C." imprint marks a later printing. DELUXE/COLLECTED FORM: the Picture Books were later gathered as gift books; the grand collected volume is "The Complete Collection of Pictures & Songs" (Routledge, 1887, preface by Austin Dobson, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans), issued in an ordinary trade edition AND a Large Paper Edition limited to 800 numbered copies signed by Edmund Evans — tall folio (about 12 x 15.75 in), cloth-covered boards, gilt spine, top edge gilt. For John Gilpin specifically the prized true first is the standalone 1878 Routledge shilling issue in original wrappers; the signed limited applies only to the collected 1887 gift book, not to the individual 1878 title.

## Is this the true first?
The true first of the signature work is the standalone 1878 George Routledge & Sons issue of John Gilpin in original colour paper wrappers (colour printing by Edmund Evans) — one of the two inaugural Picture Books (with The House That Jack Built), both dated 1878 and released December 1878. Because Caldecott produced these for the London printer/publisher, the Routledge London issue is the primary edition and any American appearance is later/secondary. The 800-copy signed Large Paper limitation is a distinct 1887 object (the collected "Complete Collection of Pictures & Songs," Routledge), not an alternative first of the 1878 title, so it does not displace the 1878 wrappered Picture Book as the prized true first of John Gilpin itself.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The fragile shilling wrappers were rarely preserved, so many surviving "first editions" are actually later Routledge reprints, later Frederick Warne printings (Routledge sold its children's-book interests and the colour plates to Warne circa 1900, after which the Warne name and a stiffer binding replaced the Routledge wrappers), or copies rebound/extracted from the multi-title bound "Picture Book" omnibus volumes — these are cataloged as later printings or "First Edition Thus," not the 1878 first. Reprints are betrayed by later titles appearing in the rear-wrapper advertisement lists and by the Edmund Evans imprint carrying the "E.C." postal district (post-1883); Warne printings later add "Ltd." (post-1917). Collected/omnibus gift volumes gathering several stories are convenient but are not the first appearance of the individual 1878 title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Diverting History of John Gilpin (text by William Cowper)* by Randolph Caldecott a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-diverting-history-of-john-gilpin
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.