Is My The Ill-Made Knight a First Edition?

The points of issue

• G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1940 — first edition, first printing
• Octavo (about 8 3/16 x 5 the printed price inches
• 207 x 147 mm), 291 pages, with White's own small illustrations at the beginning and end of each chapter
• Bound in lapis blue cloth pictorially stamped in gilt: the front board bears a gilt illustration of a knight in armour, sword drawn, astride a galloping horse; title, author and publisher are lettered in gilt on the spine; top edge stained red; fore-edge deckled and untrimmed
• Issued in a pictorial dust jacket — look for the price present at the front flap (unclipped) and no later-printing statement on the copyright page
• The first British edition (Collins, London, 1941) is physically a different object and easy to tell apart: red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, 296 pages, with the author's decorations, and uncommon in the jacket

How G. P. Putnam's Sons marked a first edition

• PRE-1928 (early independent house): Putnam printed NO first-edition statement. Identify a first by matching the copyright-page year to the title-page year with no reprint/later-printing notice on the copyright page. Afte…
• US, 1928–1959: still NO positive first-edition statement — firsts are identified by ABSENCE. Later printings add a dated 'First printed' (and subsequent-printing) notice beneath the copyright notice; a copyright page lac…

Full G. P. Putnam's Sons 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 US 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?

US-first CONFIRMED — the census claim holds. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1940 precedes Collins, London, 1941 by one calendar year, the second consecutive US-first in the sequence after The Witch in the Wood (1939); dealers state it plainly ('issued the year before the British edition'). Both editions are collected: Putnam 1940 is the true first, Collins 1941 the first British. Beware UK dealer shorthand — Collins 1941 copies are routinely catalogued simply as 'first edition,' meaning first British edition, not the true first; at least one specialist listing does exactly this. Wikipedia is unreliable on this title: its infobox pairs the Putnam imprint with a United Kingdom place of publication, which is wrong. This was the last of White's Arthurian novels to receive separate publication; the text was revised for The Once and Future King (Collins, 1958).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

As with The Witch in the Wood, the Putnam 'Arthurian Trilogy' boxed set gathers the US firsts — verify each volume's copyright page rather than relying on the box or the set description. The 1958 Once and Future King omnibus carries a revised text and is not a reprint of this printing. Later Putnam and Collins impressions and modern print-on-demand reissues are reprints or 'first thus.' No book-club issue of the 1940 Putnam is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Ill-Made Knight a first edition?

A first edition of The Ill-Made Knight by T. H. White (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is identified by: Putnam's Sons, New York, 1940 — first edition, first printing.

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. US-first CONFIRMED — the census claim holds.

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

As with The Witch in the Wood, the Putnam 'Arthurian Trilogy' boxed set gathers the US firsts — verify each volume's copyright page rather than relying on the box or the set description. The 1958 Once and Future King omnibus carries a revised text and is not a reprint of this printing. Later Putnam and Collins impressions and modern print-on-demand reissues are reprints or 'first thus.' No book-club issue of the 1940 Putnam is documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of The Ill-Made Knight — 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.