# Is "The White Company" by Arthur Conan Doyle a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle (Smith, Elder & Co., 1891) is identified by: First published in three volumes by Smith, Elder & Co.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in three volumes by Smith, Elder & Co. in November 1891, in an edition of 750 copies, after serialization in the Cornhill Magazine
- The publisher's cloth is red to reddish-brown, with gilt titling on the spine and decorative borders stamped in blind on the spine and front panel, and botanical-pattern endpapers
- Publisher's advertisements appear at the ends of volumes II and III in first-issue sets
- Publisher imprint reads Smith, Elder & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder & Co. |
| Year | 1891 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in three volumes by Smith, Elder & Co. in November 1891, in an edition of 750 copies, after serialization in the Cornhill… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in three volumes by Smith, Elder & Co. in November 1891, in an edition of 750 copies, after serialization in the Cornhill Magazine. The publisher's cloth is red to reddish-brown, with gilt titling on the spine and decorative borders stamped in blind on the spine and front panel, and botanical-pattern endpapers. Publisher's advertisements appear at the ends of volumes II and III in first-issue sets.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later single-volume trade and illustrated editions issued from the 1890s onward reset the text in one volume and are not the three-volume 1891 first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The White Company* by Arthur Conan Doyle a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-white-company
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.