Is My Treasure Island (text by Robert Louis Stevenson; the inaugural Scribner's Illustrated Classic) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing (published September 30, 1911, the first title in the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series) contains 14 tipped-in full-color plates by N. C. Wyeth, each with a printed captioned tissue guard, plus an illustrated color title page and pictorial endpapers (dealers variously tally the full color-image count near 17 when the paste-on cover label and pictorial title/endpapers are included)
• The defining first-printing point is a Table-of-Contents typographic error: Chapter XVI (Part IV, "The Stockade") is listed at page "23" instead of the correct "123"; this was reset to "123" in the second printing (also dated 1911), making the erroneous "23" state the true first, which is markedly scarcer than the corrected second printing
• The title page is dated 1911 with no later-printing notice on the copyright page
• Binding is black cloth with a color pictorial paste-on label on the front cover, top edge gilt, and pictorial endpapers; the collated text block runs to 273 pages
• Complete first-printing copies retain all 14 plates with their tissue guards
• Unlike the British gift-book illustrators (Rackham, Dulac), Wyeth's Treasure Island was issued by Scribner's ONLY as an ordinary trade edition in 1911 — there was no signed/numbered deluxe or large-paper limited issue — so the trade first printing (with the "23" error) is itself the prized true first

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• Pre-1930: Scribner seal/device plus month-and-year of publication on copyright page; first printings either carry matching dates on title page and copyright page or show no later printings noted.

Full Charles Scribner'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 UK 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?

Precedence: the ordinary Scribner's trade first printing IS the true first — no signed/numbered/deluxe/large-paper limited issue of the 1911 Treasure Island was ever produced, and there is no UK/US precedence question (this is a US-origin Scribner's book). Among the trade printings the true first is distinguished by the Table-of-Contents "23"-for-"123" error (Chapter XVI, Part IV, "The Stockade"); the second printing, still dated 1911 on both title and copyright pages, corrects this to "123." Signed/numbered deluxe and fine-press formats exist only for much later editions (Scribner's numbered revivals begun 1981; the modern Suntup Editions letterpress limiteds) — not for the 1911 Wyeth Treasure Island.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Scribner's printings are common and frequently confused with the first: from 1912 onward reprints add later-printing notices and eventually reduce plate counts (the 1933 reset carried only 12 plates), and the pictorial cover label and gilt top edge are often absent or worn. The single most reliable tell is the Contents reading: a corrected "123" for Chapter XVI marks a second printing or later, never the true first. Twentieth-century Scribner's Illustrated Classics reissues, Grosset & Dunlap and other trade reprints, and modern reprints (Franklin Library 1975, Folio Society editions, the Scribner's numbered deluxe revivals from 1981, and Suntup Editions limiteds) are all explicitly later and are routinely mislisted as "first edition" by non-specialist sellers.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Treasure Island (text by Robert Louis Stevenson; the inaugural Scribner's Illustrated Classic) a first edition?

A first edition of Treasure Island (text by Robert Louis Stevenson; the inaugural Scribner's Illustrated Classic) by N. C. Wyeth (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: The first printing (published September 30, 1911, the first title in the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series) contains 14 tipped-in full-color plates by N.

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. Precedence: the ordinary Scribner's trade first printing IS the true first — no signed/numbered/deluxe/large-paper limited issue of the 1911 Treasure Island was ever produced, and there is no UK/US precedence question (this is a US-origin Scribner's book).

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

Later Scribner's printings are common and frequently confused with the first: from 1912 onward reprints add later-printing notices and eventually reduce plate counts (the 1933 reset carried only 12 plates), and the pictorial cover label and gilt top edge are often absent or worn. The single most reliable tell is the Contents reading: a corrected "123" for Chapter XVI marks a second printing or later, never the true first. Twentieth-century Scribner's Illustrated Classics reissues, Grosset & Dunl

I have a first edition of Treasure Island (text by Robert Louis Stevenson; the inaugural Scribner's Illustrated Classic) — 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.