Is My Copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Geo
• M. Hill Co., Chicago & New York, 1900, with W. W. Denslow's 24 colour plates; light green pictorial cloth stamped in red and dark green, the 'Geo
• M. Hill Co.' imprint at the foot of the spine
• First-state text points (per Bibliographia Oziana): the publisher's advertisement on p. [2] is enclosed in a box; p. 14, line 1 reads 'low wail on the wind'; the misprint 'peices' (for 'pieces') stands uncorrected at p. 81, four lines up; p. [227], line 1 begins 'While the Tin Woodman…'; the colophon is set in eleven lines within a two-line box; and the type is unbroken at pp. 100 and 186
• First-state colour plates: the plate facing p. 34 shows two dark-blue blots on the moon, and the plate facing p. 92 shows red (pink) shading at the horizon; both are removed in later states
• The book bears a single 1900 copyright — there is NO 1899 date anywhere

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. 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.
5. 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?

Geo. M. Hill 1900 is the true first. First-issue determination is genuinely complex: the text state and the colour-plate states are catalogued in the standard bibliography (Hanff & Greene, Bibliographia Oziana), and the binding variants (light green cloth, imprint stamping and colour) are classified separately from the text state, so a copy must be collated on both. The Bobbs-Merrill reissues, retitled 'The New Wizard of Oz' from 1903, are later editions.P-036959

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Any imprint other than Geo. M. Hill — Bobbs-Merrill above all, whose reissues carry the 'New Wizard of Oz' title — is a later edition, not the first. Do not assume a Hill imprint alone proves first state: later Hill text and plate states exist (boxless p. [2] advertisement, thirteen-line reset colophon with no box, 'pieces' corrected, plates without the moon-blots or the horizon shading, broken type at pp. 100 and 186). Full first-state confirmation requires collating the text and plate points against Bibliographia Oziana.P-036960

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz a first edition?

A first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Geo. M. Hill Co.) is identified by: M. Hill Co., Chicago & New York, 1900, with W. W. Denslow's 24 colour plates; light green pictorial cloth stamped in red and dark green, the 'Geo.

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. Geo.

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

Any imprint other than Geo. M. Hill — Bobbs-Merrill above all, whose reissues carry the 'New Wizard of Oz' title — is a later edition, not the first. Do not assume a Hill imprint alone proves first state: later Hill text and plate states exist (boxless p. [2] advertisement, thirteen-line reset colophon with no box, 'pieces' corrected, plates without the moon-blots or the horizon shading, broken type at pp. 100 and 186).

I have a first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — 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.