Is My The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (the Kelmscott Chaucer) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The colophon is the anchor point: printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Upper Mall, Hammersmith, in the County of Middlesex, "finished on the 8th day of May, 1896"; publication followed in June 1896 (sources differ on the exact June day, so cite the colophon date, not the publication day)
• Printed in black and red in two columns in Morris's Chaucer type, with the titles of the longer poems in Troy type; text edited by F. S. Ellis
• Contains 87 woodcut illustrations designed by Edward Burne-Jones and engraved on wood by W. H. Hooper, plus 14 large borders, 18 frames, 26 initials and an ornamental woodcut title designed by Morris
• 556 pages
• Total edition 438 copies: 425 on paper and 13 on vellum
• The sheets carry no printed limitation number, so the count is a bibliographic record rather than a statement in the book — do not expect a numbered leaf

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
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?

This is a first edition thus, not a first edition of Chaucer — the text is a fourteenth-century author's, and the Kelmscott is the first Kelmscott Press printing of the collected Works in the Ellis text. There is no UK-vs-US or original-language precedence question: the book was printed and published only at Hammersmith in 1896, with no contemporaneous American issue, so the Kelmscott Press printing is the only edition at stake. The census framing of it as an anchor of private-press collecting is confirmed; the framing as a straightforward 'first edition' is not, and the record should say first edition thus.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue exists, but facsimiles dominate and are the real trap. The Basilisk Press (London, 1974-75) facsimile was issued in 515 copies in two volumes — the Chaucer plus a separately written Companion Volume by Duncan Robinson — printed letterpress by the John Roberts Press on paper made to match Batchelor's handmade stock, bound in red-and-white Liberty 'Larkspur' floral cloth after a Morris pattern with spine labels, in a blue publisher's slipcase. The Companion Volume, the Liberty floral cloth, and the Basilisk imprint are immediate tells; nothing about the 1896 original is floral-cloth bound or accompanied by a companion volume. The Folio Society (2002) facsimile, limited to 1,010 copies, was photographed from a Basilisk copy. Also in circulation: modern leather-bound 'deluxe' reprints numbered out of 1,896 with a certificate of authenticity — the 1,896 is the year repurposed as an edition size and is a reprint marker, never a Kelmscott point — and the Pomegranate colouring book.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (the Kelmscott Chaucer) a first edition?

A first edition of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (the Kelmscott Chaucer) by Geoffrey Chaucer (designed by William Morris; illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones) (Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith) is identified by: The colophon is the anchor point: printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, Upper Mall, Hammersmith, in the County of Middlesex, "finished on the 8th day of May, 1896"; publication followed in June 1896 (sources differ on the exact June day, so cite the colophon date, not the publication day).

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. This is a first edition thus, not a first edition of Chaucer — the text is a fourteenth-century author's, and the Kelmscott is the first Kelmscott Press printing of the collected Works in the Ellis text.

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

No book-club issue exists, but facsimiles dominate and are the real trap. The Basilisk Press (London, 1974-75) facsimile was issued in 515 copies in two volumes — the Chaucer plus a separately written Companion Volume by Duncan Robinson — printed letterpress by the John Roberts Press on paper made to match Batchelor's handmade stock, bound in red-and-white Liberty 'Larkspur' floral cloth after a Morris pattern with spine labels, in a blue publisher's slipcase. The Companion Volume, the Liberty f

I have a first edition of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (the Kelmscott Chaucer) — 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.