Is My The Witch in the Wood a First Edition?

The points of issue

• G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1939 — first edition, first printing, collating vii, 270 pages, with small line drawings and decorations by White throughout
• Bound in glossy blue cloth, the spine lettered in gilt and the front board bearing a gilt stamp, top edge stained red, fore-edge machine-deckled and untrimmed
• Issued in a pictorial dust jacket; look for the price present at the front flap (unclipped) and a copyright page carrying no later-printing statement
• Measurements run about 8 x 5.5 inches
• These Putnam sheets are the only first-edition appearance of the text under this title

How G. P. Putnam's Sons marked a first edition

• PRE-1928 (early independent house): Putnam printed NO first-edition statement. Identify a first by matching the copyright-page year to the title-page year with no reprint/later-printing notice on the copyright page. Afte…
• US, 1928–1959: still NO positive first-edition statement — firsts are identified by ABSENCE. Later printings add a dated 'First printed' (and subsequent-printing) notice beneath the copyright notice; a copyright page lac…

Full G. P. Putnam's Sons 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. 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?

US-first oddity CONFIRMED — the census claim is correct. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1939 precedes the first British edition (Collins, London, 1940, 281 pages) by one full calendar year, reversing the usual pattern for White, whose The Sword in the Stone had gone Collins-first in 1938. Multiple independent ABAA-grade dealers state the precedence explicitly ('This American edition is the true First Edition, published the year before the British edition'; 'first American edition, first printing, preceding the first British edition by one calendar year'). Both are collected: Putnam 1939 is the true first, Collins 1940 the first British. The sequence trap matters more than usual here — White was dissatisfied with the book and cut it heavily, trimming nearly a hundred pages and retitling it 'The Queen of Air and Darkness' for The Once and Future King (Collins, 1958). The 1939 Putnam and 1940 Collins are the only editions of the original, longer, more farcical text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Watch the Putnam 'Arthurian Trilogy' boxed set (The Sword in the Stone / The Witch in the Wood / The Ill-Made Knight), which gathers the US first editions and is traded as a unit — the volumes inside can be genuine firsts, so check each copyright page individually rather than trusting the box. The 1958 Once and Future King omnibus is a revised text under a new title, not a reprint of this book, and cannot be a first of this title. Modern facsimile and print-on-demand reissues are reprints. No book-club issue of the 1939 Putnam is documented in the sources consulted, and no club tell should be asserted without one.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Witch in the Wood a first edition?

A first edition of The Witch in the Wood by T. H. White (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is identified by: Putnam's Sons, New York, 1939 — first edition, first printing, collating vii, 270 pages, with small line drawings and decorations by White throughout.

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. US-first oddity CONFIRMED — the census claim is correct.

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

Watch the Putnam 'Arthurian Trilogy' boxed set (The Sword in the Stone / The Witch in the Wood / The Ill-Made Knight), which gathers the US first editions and is traded as a unit — the volumes inside can be genuine firsts, so check each copyright page individually rather than trusting the box. The 1958 Once and Future King omnibus is a revised text under a new title, not a reprint of this book, and cannot be a first of this title. Modern facsimile and print-on-demand reissues are reprints. No bo

I have a first edition of The Witch in the Wood — 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.