# Is "The Iron Heel" by Jack London a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Iron Heel by Jack London (The Macmillan Company, 1908) is identified by: The copyright page of the first printing reads 'Copyright, 1907, By Jack London.' above the line 'Set up and electrotyped. US first, as the census claims: The Macmillan Company, New York, published February 1908, is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The copyright page of the first printing reads 'Copyright, 1907, By Jack London.' above the line 'Set up and electrotyped
- Published February, 1908.', with the Norwood Press imprint below it (J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.); this was confirmed against a scan of a 1908 Macmillan copy
- Later Macmillan impressions retain that statement and add 'Reprinted' lines with dates beneath it, so the absence of any reprint notation is the operative point
- Collation is xiv, 354 pp., followed by 4 pp. of publisher's advertisements listing London's books at the rear
- The book is bound in blue cloth, the front board with a pictorial design and lettering stamped in grey, the spine lettered in gilt
- A binding variant is recorded in which the foot of the publisher's name on the spine sits roughly 4 mm above the bottom edge, against roughly 7 mm on other copies; priority between the two has not been established, so neither gap is a first-state point and neither should be sold as one
- Publisher imprint reads The Macmillan Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack London |
| Publisher | The Macmillan Company |
| Year | 1908 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The copyright page of the first printing reads 'Copyright, 1907, By Jack London.' above the line 'Set up and electrotyped |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The copyright page of the first printing reads 'Copyright, 1907, By Jack London.' above the line 'Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1908.', with the Norwood Press imprint below it (J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.); this was confirmed against a scan of a 1908 Macmillan copy. Later Macmillan impressions retain that statement and add 'Reprinted' lines with dates beneath it, so the absence of any reprint notation is the operative point. Collation is xiv, 354 pp., followed by 4 pp. of publisher's advertisements listing London's books at the rear. The book is bound in blue cloth, the front board with a pictorial design and lettering stamped in grey, the spine lettered in gilt. A binding variant is recorded in which the foot of the publisher's name on the spine sits roughly 4 mm above the bottom edge, against roughly 7 mm on other copies; priority between the two has not been established, so neither gap is a first-state point and neither should be sold as one. Standard references cited by dealers: BAL 11908; Sisson & Martens p. 40; Woodbridge #62. No jacket points are documented for this title in the sources consulted — do not assert any.

## Is this the true first?
US first, as the census claims: The Macmillan Company, New York, published February 1908, is the true first. Everett & Co., London, 1908, is the first English edition and is collected separately as a scarce edition in its own right; the sources consulted give it no month and none place it ahead of the February Macmillan, so the Macmillan holds precedence on the available evidence. Both are collected — name Macmillan (New York, February 1908) as the true first and Everett & Co. (London, 1908) as the English first. The 1917 Macmillan reissue and the many later trade, mass-market and scholarly reprints are separate editions.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprint tells sit on the copyright page: later Macmillan impressions keep 'Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1908.' and add dated 'Reprinted' lines beneath it, so read the full block rather than stopping at the February line — this is the single most common way a later impression is mistaken for the first. The 1917 Macmillan reissue is a separate edition. No book-club issue of the 1908 Macmillan is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Iron Heel* by Jack London a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-iron-heel
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.