Is My The Happy Prince and Other Tales a First Edition?

The points of issue

• David Nutt, London, May 1888; small quarto, printed at the Ballantyne Press, recorded in Stuart Mason's Bibliography of Oscar Wilde (Mason 313–14)
• Two issues: a trade issue of 1,000 copies, and a large-paper issue of 75 copies on hand-made paper in Japanese-vellum-covered bevelled boards, top edge gilt and margins untrimmed, signed on the limitation leaf by both Oscar Wilde and the publisher David Nutt — the signed limitation leaf is the point for the large-paper issue
• The upper cover of the trade issue is printed in red and black with Jacomb Hood's vignette and the publisher's device; the title page is likewise printed in red and black
• Illustrations are three plates by Walter Crane (frontispiece to "The Happy Prince" plus plates to "The Selfish Giant" and "The Remarkable Rocket"), with a tissue guard to the frontispiece and head- and tail-pieces and the cover design by Jacomb Hood; in the large-paper issue the Crane plates appear in two states (black and brown) and the plates and head/tail-pieces are printed on thin rice paper and mounted
• Sources describe the trade covering variously as "stiff paper covers" and as Japanese vellum boards — these are almost certainly the same vellum-paper boards described loosely, but the discrepancy is on the record
• Contents in both issues: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend, The Remarkable Rocket

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 London David Nutt edition of May 1888 is the true first, and both its issues are collected: the 1,000-copy trade issue and the 75-copy large-paper issue signed by Wilde and Nutt. The first American edition is Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1888, in publisher's grey cloth lettered and decorated in red with floral-patterned endpapers, in a smaller format than the London issue and using the same illustrations; at least one ILAB dealer describes it as simultaneous rather than subsequent, so the census claim that "US editions follow" is not established — treat Roberts Brothers 1888 as the first American edition of disputed precedence, and Nutt London as the recognised first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition applies to an 1888 title. The trap here is "first thus": later Nutt reissues and the Duckworth and subsequent reprints carrying the Crane plates are not the 1888 first, and any copy lacking the red-and-black printed upper cover with the Jacomb Hood vignette, or lacking the Wilde/Nutt-signed limitation leaf in the case of a large-paper copy, is not the first. Sources cite the Mason number inconsistently as 313 and 314 across the trade and large-paper issues, so cite Mason with care.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Happy Prince and Other Tales a first edition?

A first edition of The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde (David Nutt) is identified by: David Nutt, London, May 1888; small quarto, printed at the Ballantyne Press, recorded in Stuart Mason's Bibliography of Oscar Wilde (Mason 313–14).

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 London David Nutt edition of May 1888 is the true first, and both its issues are collected: the 1,000-copy trade issue and the 75-copy large-paper issue signed by Wilde and Nutt.

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

No book-club edition applies to an 1888 title. The trap here is "first thus": later Nutt reissues and the Duckworth and subsequent reprints carrying the Crane plates are not the 1888 first, and any copy lacking the red-and-black printed upper cover with the Jacomb Hood vignette, or lacking the Wilde/Nutt-signed limitation leaf in the case of a large-paper copy, is not the first. Sources cite the Mason number inconsistently as 313 and 314 across the trade and large-paper issues, so cite Mason wit

I have a first edition of The Happy Prince and Other Tales — 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.