Is My The Shunned House a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Athol, Massachusetts, published by W. Paul Cook, The Recluse Press, 1928, with a preface by Frank Belknap Long, Jr
• Octavo, collating pp. [1-8] 9-58 [59] [60: blank]; approximately 300 sets of sheets were printed (some accounts say about 250)
• Cook's business collapsed and not a single copy was bound or issued in 1928, so the first edition exists only as sheets and in later bindings — binding state is the whole of the identification, and every genuine copy, however bound and whenever bound, is the same 1928 Recluse Press printing
• Recorded states: unbound sheets, top edge uncut, as distributed; a handful (fewer than ten) bound privately for Lovecraft's circle by R. H. Barlow circa 1935-36, one in full leather for Lovecraft; about 50 sets sold unbound by Arkham House circa 1959; and roughly 100 sets bound by August Derleth in black cloth uniform with Arkham House's other books and offered in 1961 — issued without a dust jacket, with the Arkham House imprint on the spine only
• Arkham-distributed copies carry a pasted-down Arkham House copyright label cancelling Cook's original 1928 copyright statement; a first state of that paste-down is recorded, printed on white paper with the titles in bold, and a small number of sets went out with the original Cook copyright statement uncancelled
• Auction cataloguing records the genuine sheets as watermarked 'Canterbury.' References: Joshi I-A-5

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

The census claim is confirmed on both counts: US only, and binding state determines everything. There is no UK, foreign-language, or competing edition, and no precedence question. The 1928 Recluse Press sheets are the first printing of the text — the story's first magazine appearance was in Weird Tales for October 1937, posthumously and nine years later. The critical nuance for buyers is the inverse of the usual trap: an 'Arkham House 1961' copy is not a reprint, it is the 1928 first-edition sheets in a 1961 Arkham binding, and Sauk City is a binding place, not a second edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists and none is possible. There is no legitimate reprint of the 1928 sheets themselves — later appearances of the text (Arkham House's collected volumes from 1939 onward, and modern editions including facsimile and homage printings) are wholly separate reprints with no 1928 sheets in them. Confirm the collation, the Canterbury watermark and the Cook copyright statement (cancelled or uncancelled) rather than relying on the binding, since the binding by itself proves nothing about this title.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Shunned House a first edition?

A first edition of The Shunned House by H. P. Lovecraft (W. Paul Cook / The Recluse Press, Athol, MA) is identified by: First edition: Athol, Massachusetts, published by W.

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 census claim is confirmed on both counts: US only, and binding state determines everything.

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

No book-club edition exists and none is possible. There is no legitimate reprint of the 1928 sheets themselves — later appearances of the text (Arkham House's collected volumes from 1939 onward, and modern editions including facsimile and homage printings) are wholly separate reprints with no 1928 sheets in them. Confirm the collation, the Canterbury watermark and the Cook copyright statement (cancelled or uncancelled) rather than relying on the binding, since the binding by itself proves nothin

I have a first edition of The Shunned House — 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.