# Is "The Listener and Other Stories" by Algernon Blackwood a First Edition?

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

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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.'
- Publisher imprint reads Eveleigh Nash, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Algernon Blackwood |
| Publisher | Eveleigh Nash, London |
| Year | 1907 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: London, Eveleigh Nash, 1907 — Blackwood's second book and second collection |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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.'

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Listener and Other Stories* by Algernon Blackwood a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-listener-and-other-stories
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.