Is My The Little White Horse a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published June 1946 by University of London Press Ltd, London; no edition or impression statement appears on the first impression, and later impressions are noted as such
• Bound in publisher's blue cloth with a bright gilt unicorn device stamped on the front panel, with pictorial endpapers
• 8vo, vi + 286 pp
• Illustrated by C. Walter Hodges with a colour frontispiece, three further colour plates, and monochrome illustrations throughout
• The dust wrapper is illustrated by Hodges and should be present and priced at the flap on an unclipped copy; the wrapper is fragile and commonly restored or absent

How University of London Press marked a first edition

• Copyright page typically prints a sequence of edition/printing/year codes. Older Chicago books show two date rows: a row of EDITION years and a row of IMPRESSION/printing years; the earliest impression year present indic…

Full University of London Press 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 American 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 University of London Press edition (London, 1946) is the true first and is the edition that won the 1946 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association. The first American edition is Coward-McCann (New York, 1947), also illustrated by C. Walter Hodges, in blue cloth but decorated in silver rather than gilt — collected in its own right but secondary to the UK issue. Both editions are named here because both are collected; the UK 1946 has precedence. Demand is inflated by J.K. Rowling having named it her favourite childhood book.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later University of London Press impressions carry impression statements on the copyright page — check for these first. The 1992 reissue illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert is a "first thus," not a reprint of the Hodges first, and is frequently mis-described; Lion, Puffin, and later paperback issues are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Little White Horse a first edition?

A first edition of The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (University of London Press) is identified by: First published June 1946 by University of London Press Ltd, London; no edition or impression statement appears on the first impression, and later impressions are noted as such.

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. The University of London Press edition (London, 1946) is the true first and is the edition that won the 1946 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association.

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

Later University of London Press impressions carry impression statements on the copyright page — check for these first. The 1992 reissue illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert is a "first thus," not a reprint of the Hodges first, and is frequently mis-described; Lion, Puffin, and later paperback issues are reprints.

I have a first edition of The Little White Horse — 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.