Is My The Listener and Other Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: London, Eveleigh Nash, 1907 — Blackwood's second book and second collection
• Octavo, collating pp. [1-9] 10-350 [351-352: blank], with a final blank leaf
• Bound in original black cloth, the front panel stamped in red and in blind, the spine panel stamped in gold, and the publisher's device stamped in blind on the rear panel
• Nash used no edition or printing statement and there is no number line, so identification rests on the 1907 Nash title-page imprint together with the collation and the black-cloth binding described above
• The book was issued both with and without a 36-page publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear (copies with the catalogue carry one dated 'Spring 1908'); no priority is established between the two states, so a copy bound without the catalogue is not thereby demoted
• This is the first book appearance of 'The Willows.'

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the UK 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?

The census claim is confirmed: the UK Eveleigh Nash edition of 1907 is the true first, and the collected point of the book is that it carries the first appearance of 'The Willows.' There was no competing American issue at the time — the first American edition did not follow until Vaughan & Gomme, New York, 1914, seven years later, and is collected only as the first US, not as a first edition. No original-language question arises; Blackwood wrote in English and London publication came first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporary book-club issue is documented for this title. The recurring traps are the 1914 Vaughan & Gomme New York edition (a genuine first American but not the first edition) and later Nash reprints and cheap editions struck from the same setting; modern trade and print-on-demand reissues are 'first thus' only and carry none of the 1907 binding or collation points.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Listener and Other Stories a first edition?

A first edition of The Listener and Other Stories by Algernon Blackwood (Eveleigh Nash, London) is identified by: First edition: London, Eveleigh Nash, 1907 — Blackwood's second book and second collection.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The census claim is confirmed: the UK Eveleigh Nash edition of 1907 is the true first, and the collected point of the book is that it carries the first appearance of 'The Willows.' There was no competing American issue at the time — the first American edition did not follow until Vaughan & Gomme, New York, 1914, seven years later, and is collected only as the first US, not as a first edition.

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

No contemporary book-club issue is documented for this title. The recurring traps are the 1914 Vaughan & Gomme New York edition (a genuine first American but not the first edition) and later Nash reprints and cheap editions struck from the same setting; modern trade and print-on-demand reissues are 'first thus' only and carry none of the 1907 binding or collation points.

I have a first edition of The Listener and Other Stories — 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.