Is My The House of Souls a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Octavo, collating [i-iv] v-xiii [xiv-xvi] [1-2] 3-513 [514], with [515] carrying an advertisement for The Three Impostors and [516] blank; inserted frontispiece illustrated by Sidney H. Sime
• Bound in original pictorial grey cloth with a cover design by Sime stamped in black, gold and light green
• THERE IS A BINDING STATE POINT: the first binding has 'E. GRANT RICHARDS' at the base of the spine, while the second binding has 'GRANT / RICHARDS' on two lines at the base of the spine panel — both are the 1906 first-edition sheets, so this distinguishes binding state, not edition
• The volume gives the first book appearance of 'A Fragment of Life,' 'The White People' and 'The Red Hand,' and reprints The Great God Pan
• together with The Three Impostors
• in a revised and abridged form

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 census claim is confirmed: London, E. Grant Richards, 1906 is the true first and the first book appearance of 'The White People.' The American edition from Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1922 is a genuinely different book rather than a reprint — it runs 286 pp., drops the last two stories of the London edition, and prints 'A Fragment of Life,' 'The Great God Pan,' 'The White People,' 'The Inmost Light' and selections from The Three Impostors. It is therefore collected as the first American edition but is a 'first thus' for the contents, and it does not supersede or reproduce the 1906 London text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1906 Grant Richards edition. The principal traps are the 1922 Knopf American edition (different, shorter contents), a later Grant Richards reissue dated 1923 that is offered by some sellers under the 1906 description, and the Tartarus Press hardcover reissues (North Yorkshire, first and second printings, 427 pp.), which reuse Sime's frontispiece and board designs and can be mistaken for the period book — the Tartarus volumes are modern reprints. Grant Richards printed no edition statement, so identification depends on the 1906 title page, the Sime pictorial grey cloth, and the spine imprint form.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The House of Souls a first edition?

A first edition of The House of Souls by Arthur Machen (E. Grant Richards, London) is identified by: Octavo, collating [i-iv] v-xiii [xiv-xvi] [1-2] 3-513 [514], with [515] carrying an advertisement for The Three Impostors and [516] blank; inserted frontispiece illustrated by Sidney H.

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 census claim is confirmed: London, E.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1906 Grant Richards edition. The principal traps are the 1922 Knopf American edition (different, shorter contents), a later Grant Richards reissue dated 1923 that is offered by some sellers under the 1906 description, and the Tartarus Press hardcover reissues (North Yorkshire, first and second printings, 427 pp.), which reuse Sime's frontispiece and board designs and can be mistaken for the period book — the Tartarus volumes are modern reprints. Grant Ric

I have a first edition of The House of Souls — 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.