Is My 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

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: Hill Co., Chicago & New York, 1900, with 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. 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). Full first-state confirmation requires collating the text and plate points a

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 — 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.