Is My The Nursery Alice a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Contains twenty color-enlarged versions of Tenniel's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrations, redrawn, enlarged, and colored under Tenniel's supervision, with the text abridged and rewritten by Carroll for younger readers
• The published first edition -- the corrected second impression, dated 1890 on the title page -- carries a stated price on the title page and shows Alice with her back to the reader in the illustration on page 34
• Complete first-edition copies also retain a separate addendum slip at the rear announcing the forthcoming publication of Sylvie and Bruno, a slip that is frequently missing

How Macmillan and Co. marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, pre-late-1800s: no printing statement was used. Treat the book as a first only when the date on the TITLE page matches the last (latest) date on the copyright page. A title-page year EARLIER than the latest…

Full Macmillan and Co. 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 British 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?

Carroll rejected the entire original 1889 impression of 10,000 copies as 'far too bright and gaudy' and withheld its sale in Britain; roughly 4,000 of the suppressed 1889 sheets were instead exported for sale in America (unpriced title page, dated 1889, Macmillan London imprint), while Macmillan issued a corrected second impression, dated 1890 on the title page, for the British market. It is this March 1890 impression that is collected as the first published edition.P-035286

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The rejected 1889 sheets were later worked off as an unpriced 'People's Edition,' and a fourth issue followed in 1897 with an amended, cheaper price label; these later, cheaper issues are not the corrected 1890 first published edition.P-035287

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Nursery Alice a first edition?

A first edition of The Nursery Alice by Lewis Carroll (Macmillan and Co.) is identified by: Contains twenty color-enlarged versions of Tenniel's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrations, redrawn, enlarged, and colored under Tenniel's supervision, with the text abridged and rewritten by Carroll for younger readers.

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. Carroll rejected the entire original 1889 impression of 10,000 copies as 'far too bright and gaudy' and withheld its sale in Britain; roughly 4,000 of the suppressed 1889 sheets were instead exported for sale in America (unpriced title page, dated 1889, Macmillan London imprint), while Macmillan issued a corrected second impression, dated 1890 on the title page, for the British market.

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

The rejected 1889 sheets were later worked off as an unpriced 'People's Edition,' and a fourth issue followed in 1897 with an amended, cheaper price label; these later, cheaper issues are not the corrected 1890 first published edition.

I have a first edition of The Nursery Alice — 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.