Is My The Little Train a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing of Greene's first children's picture book, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946, issued anonymously with neither Greene's name on the book nor on the jacket; the credited author and illustrator is Dorothy Craigie (pseudonym of Dorothy Glover)
• A slim oblong quarto in yellow pictorial cloth, the spine and upper cover decorated with small steam locomotives in red, black, and green and the lower cover with a black-lantern vignette, top edge stained yellow, over cartographic (map) endpapers, illustrated in colour throughout
• A jacket-issue point is recorded: the earliest jacket has a plain front flap, while a later state of the same first impression adds review quotations to the front flap

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. 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 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?

UK Eyre & Spottiswoode 1946 is the true first; published anonymously, with Greene's authorship acknowledged only later (from the 1950s, around the time of the companion Little Fire Engine).P-010629

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The anonymous first issue, lacking Greene's name, is the key point; confirm the copy retains the yellow pictorial cloth and map endpapers of the first.P-010630

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Little Train a first edition?

A first edition of The Little Train by Graham Greene (Eyre & Spottiswoode) is identified by: First printing of Greene's first children's picture book, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946, issued anonymously with neither Greene's name on the book nor on the jacket; the credited author and illustrator is Dorothy Craigie (pseudonym of Dorothy Glover).

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. UK Eyre & Spottiswoode 1946 is the true first; published anonymously, with Greene's authorship acknowledged only later (from the 1950s, around the time of the companion Little Fire Engine).

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

The anonymous first issue, lacking Greene's name, is the key point; confirm the copy retains the yellow pictorial cloth and map endpapers of the first.

I have a first edition of The Little Train — 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.