# Is "The Story of My Life" by Helen Keller a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903) is identified by: True first edition is New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903, with the 1903 date on the title page and the Doubleday, Page imprint; octavo of roughly xxiii + 441 pages, illustrated with a photogravure frontispiece and about thirteen further photographic plates, including portraits of Keller and Anne Sullivan. US Doubleday, Page (New York), March 1903 is the recognized true first edition in book form.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first edition is New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903, with the 1903 date on the title page and the Doubleday, Page imprint; octavo of roughly xxiii + 441 pages, illustrated with a photogravure frontispiece and about thirteen further photographic plates, including portraits of Keller and Anne Sullivan
- Bound in the publisher's decorated burgundy (deep red) cloth lettered and stamped in gilt, with top edge gilt and the remaining edges uncut/deckle
- The volume gathers Keller's memoir, her letters, and Anne Sullivan's account of the teaching (edited by John Albert Macy); first issue is identified by the Doubleday, Page 1903 imprint and binding rather than by a single textual state-point, so later Doubleday, Page printings and reprints must be excluded
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday, Page & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Helen Keller |
| Publisher | Doubleday, Page & Co. |
| Year | 1903 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first edition is New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903, with the 1903 date on the title page and the Doubleday, Page imprint; octavo… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first edition is New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903, with the 1903 date on the title page and the Doubleday, Page imprint; octavo of roughly xxiii + 441 pages, illustrated with a photogravure frontispiece and about thirteen further photographic plates, including portraits of Keller and Anne Sullivan. Bound in the publisher's decorated burgundy (deep red) cloth lettered and stamped in gilt, with top edge gilt and the remaining edges uncut/deckle. The volume gathers Keller's memoir, her letters, and Anne Sullivan's account of the teaching (edited by John Albert Macy); first issue is identified by the Doubleday, Page 1903 imprint and binding rather than by a single textual state-point, so later Doubleday, Page printings and reprints must be excluded.

## Is this the true first?
US Doubleday, Page (New York), March 1903 is the recognized true first edition in book form. The memoir portion had appeared earlier in abbreviated serial form in the Ladies' Home Journal (1902-03), so the Doubleday, Page book is the first complete appearance; a London (Hodder & Stoughton) edition followed, but the Doubleday, Page issue is the collected first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No period book-club issue is documented for the 1903 first; distinguish it from the many later reprints, cheap reissues, and abridged school editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Story of My Life* by Helen Keller a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-story-of-my-life
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.