Is My Copy of The Second World War (6 vols) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US first printings are in uniform red cloth stamped in black and gilt, with the publication date printed at the foot of the title page and yellow-stained top edges; jackets are priced at the flap, with spine panels varying volume to volume
• There is no number line — later printings are noted on the copyright page, so a first printing shows the publication date at the title-page foot and no later-printing notice
• A first printing must also lack the Book-of-the-Month Club indentation/blindstamp on the rear board
• Standard references for the first volume are Cohen A240.1(I).a and Woods A123aa
• The Cassell (London) volumes, for comparison, are in black cloth with gilt spine lettering under uniform grey jackets alternating lions and Churchill's initials
• Cassell additionally prepared a small number of sets (reported at about 100) bound in full black pebble-grain morocco for presentation

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing…
• Transitional years (roughly late 1930s–1950s): practice is less uniform before the formal statement settled in. Continue to rely on the matching title-page/copyright-page date and the absence of any printing-history…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

The Houghton Mifflin (Boston) edition precedes the Cassell (London) edition throughout the series: The Gathering Storm was published in the US on 21 June 1948 against a British October 1948 issue, and the sequence holds to the end — Triumph and Tragedy appeared in the US in November 1953 and in Britain in April 1954. The US set is therefore the true first edition, first printing. Both sets are collected: the Cassell London volumes were issued within months of the American and incorporate numerous corrections and a few additional maps, so the UK set carries the better text while the US set holds precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Book-of-the-Month Club issued the set in America simultaneously, run on the same presses as the trade sheets, so BOMC copies closely resemble firsts and are frequently offered — and mis-sold — as such. Tells: a blind indentation or blindstamp on the rear board, no price at the jacket flap, and thinner paper and cheaper boards. A Canadian book club issue also exists and is similar in appearance. Always check the copyright page for a later-printing notice in addition to the board and jacket tells.P-040075

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Second World War (6 vols) a first edition?

A first edition of The Second World War (6 vols) by Winston S. Churchill (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: US first printings are in uniform red cloth stamped in black and gilt, with the publication date printed at the foot of the title page and yellow-stained top edges; jackets are priced at the flap, with spine panels varying volume to volume.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The Houghton Mifflin (Boston) edition precedes the Cassell (London) edition throughout the series: The Gathering Storm was published in the US on 21 June 1948 against a British October 1948 issue, and the sequence holds to the end — Triumph and Tragedy appeared in the US in November 1953 and in Britain in April 1954.

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

The Book-of-the-Month Club issued the set in America simultaneously, run on the same presses as the trade sheets, so BOMC copies closely resemble firsts and are frequently offered — and mis-sold — as such. Tells: a blind indentation or blindstamp on the rear board, no price at the jacket flap, and thinner paper and cheaper boards. A Canadian book club issue also exists and is similar in appearance.

I have a first edition of The Second World War (6 vols) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.