# Is "The Room in the Tower and Other Stories" by E. F. Benson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Room in the Tower and Other Stories by E. F. Benson (Mills & Boon, Limited, London, 1912) is identified by: [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] 1-338 [339-344: advertisements], with a 32-page undated publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear. The London Mills & Boon 1912 edition is the true first, and there is no competing contemporary US edition — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Octavo, collating pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] 1-338 [339-344: advertisements], with a 32-page undated publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear
- Bound in original maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on the rear panel, bottom edge untrimmed
- The copyright page reads 'Published 1912' and carries 'Copyright in the United States of America, 1912, by E. F. Benson'; the title page imprint reads Mills & Boon, Limited, 49 Rupert Street, London W. Critically, 'Published 1912' alone is NOT sufficient — the Mills & Boon second edition retains the identical 'Published 1912' line and adds 'Second Edition' to the title page, so the first printing point is the presence of 'Published 1912' together with the ABSENCE of any edition statement
- Publisher imprint reads Mills & Boon, Limited, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. F. Benson |
| Publisher | Mills & Boon, Limited, London |
| Year | 1912 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Octavo, collating pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] 1-338 [339-344: advertisements], with a 32-page undated publisher's catalogue inserted at… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Octavo, collating pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] 1-338 [339-344: advertisements], with a 32-page undated publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear. Bound in original maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on the rear panel, bottom edge untrimmed. The copyright page reads 'Published 1912' and carries 'Copyright in the United States of America, 1912, by E. F. Benson'; the title page imprint reads Mills & Boon, Limited, 49 Rupert Street, London W. Critically, 'Published 1912' alone is NOT sufficient — the Mills & Boon second edition retains the identical 'Published 1912' line and adds 'Second Edition' to the title page, so the first printing point is the presence of 'Published 1912' together with the ABSENCE of any edition statement.

## Is this the true first?
The London Mills & Boon 1912 edition is the true first, and there is no competing contemporary US edition — the census claim is confirmed. This is Benson's first collection of ghost stories, seventeen tales. The US did not see a separate edition until Alfred A. Knopf reissued it in 1929, which is a 'first thus' trap: the Knopf is markedly commoner than the Mills & Boon and is regularly mis-offered as a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented for the 1912 printing. The two documented traps are the Mills & Boon second edition of the same year — same 'Published 1912' copyright line, but 'Second Edition' stated — and the Alfred A. Knopf 1929 American reissue. Later leather-bound copies offered as 1912 firsts are rebindings, not publisher's issue; the original binding is publisher's maroon cloth with the blind rear monogram.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Room in the Tower and Other Stories* by E. F. Benson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-room-in-the-tower-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.