# Is "The Hands of the Emperor" by Victoria Goddard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (Underhill Books, 2019) is identified by: Self-published by the author under the Underhill Books imprint. The earliest published form is the January 2019 ebook; the September 2019 print edition is the first physical edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Self-published by the author under the Underhill Books imprint
- First released as an ebook on 8 January 2019, with a print (paperback/hardcover) edition following in September 2019
- As a self-published and largely print-on-demand title, it lacks the conventional number-line points of issue used to distinguish printings
- Publisher imprint reads Underhill Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Victoria Goddard |
| Publisher | Underhill Books |
| Year | 2019 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Self-published by the author under the Underhill Books imprint |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Self-published by the author under the Underhill Books imprint. First released as an ebook on 8 January 2019, with a print (paperback/hardcover) edition following in September 2019. As a self-published and largely print-on-demand title, it lacks the conventional number-line points of issue used to distinguish printings.

## Is this the true first?
The earliest published form is the January 2019 ebook; the September 2019 print edition is the first physical edition. Because the title is self-published and print-on-demand, a single fixed 'true first' physical state is not cleanly defined, so the earliest ISBN and original cover state should be treated as the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. Print-on-demand reprints are not distinguishable by a number line. Identification rests on the original ISBN and earliest cover state rather than printing points.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Hands of the Emperor* by Victoria Goddard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-hands-of-the-emperor
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.