Is My The Return of Tarzan a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1915, published 10 March 1915 in a first printing of 15,000 copies
• The copyright page reads "Published, March, 1915"
• Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-365 [366-368: blank], the final leaf blank
• Bound in dark green cloth with the front and spine panels stamped in gold
• Twenty-six interior black-and-white headpieces by J. Allen St
• John; the dust jacket is by N. C. Wyeth

How A. C. McClurg & Co. marked a first edition

• 1900-1930s: continued reliance on the dated title page; later printings often added 'Published (month, year)' impression lines on the copyright page, so absence of such later dates indicates a first printing. For key tit…

Full A. C. McClurg & 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 US 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?

US original; the McClurg (Chicago) 1915 is the true first edition in book form — the census claim is confirmed. The text was serialized in New Story Magazine, June–December 1913. The first British edition is Methuen (London) 1918 — octavo, blue cloth boards lettered in black with a device, 246 pages plus advertisements — confirming the census claim of Methuen 1918. The Methuen is a later, secondary edition; McClurg carries precedence, though the Methuen is collected in its own right. Methuen's Tarzan jackets used Walpole Champneys cover art through the first seventeen editions to March 1932.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A. L. Burt held a contract to reprint the first five Tarzan books and issued The Return of Tarzan from 1916, with annual reprint editions through 1919; Grosset & Dunlap reprints followed. Reprints carry the reprint publisher's imprint at the foot of the spine and on the title page in place of McClurg and typically advertise other Burt or G&D titles; the McClurg copyright statement "Published, March, 1915" is absent. Printings across all publishers total roughly 570,000 copies against a 15,000-copy first, so an unexamined copy is far more likely to be a reprint than a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Return of Tarzan a first edition?

A first edition of The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs (A. C. McClurg & Co.) is identified by: First edition, first printing: A.

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. US original; the McClurg (Chicago) 1915 is the true first edition in book form — the census claim is confirmed.

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

A. L. Burt held a contract to reprint the first five Tarzan books and issued The Return of Tarzan from 1916, with annual reprint editions through 1919; Grosset & Dunlap reprints followed. Reprints carry the reprint publisher's imprint at the foot of the spine and on the title page in place of McClurg and typically advertise other Burt or G&D titles; the McClurg copyright statement "Published, March, 1915" is absent. Printings across all publishers total roughly 570,000 copies against a 15,000-co

I have a first edition of The Return of Tarzan — 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.