Is My Under the Window: Pictures & Rhymes for Children (written and illustrated by Kate Greenaway; her first book both written and illustrated by herself) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Small quarto, 64 pp., with Greenaway's own verses and numerous wood-engraved illustrations printed in colour by Edmund Evans (many text vignettes plus full-page illustrations; no tipped-in plates — the images are integral colour wood-engravings)
• Standard bibliography: Schuster & Engen 201
• The true first edition, FIRST ISSUE (S&E 201.1a) is identified by three points:
• "End of Contents" printed at the foot of p
• the three full-page illustrations present on pp
• 21, 35 and 63 (these were dropped in later printings); and

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. Verify this is the British 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?

There is NO signed/numbered deluxe or large-paper limited issue of this title — unlike the later Edwardian gift-book illustrators (Rackham, Dulac), Greenaway's Routledge/Evans toy books were mass-market colour gift books issued in a single trade form. The prized true first is therefore the ordinary trade first edition, FIRST ISSUE (Schuster & Engen 201.1a), distinguished by the three points above (End of Contents at foot of p.14; full-page illustrations on pp. 21/35/63; "Edmund Evans" on the title page WITHOUT flanking ornaments); the second issue (201.1b) adds those ornaments plus the boy figure on the title verso. Dating note: the title page is undated, so cataloguers bracket it — the British Library, Bauman, Pazzo and Wikipedia give [1879] (published October 1879), while Christie's, Bonhams and Sotherans frequently catalogue it [1878]; the likeliest reason for the [1878] tag is that Evans engraved the blocks in 1878 ahead of the Christmas 1879 release, but both dates refer to the same first edition. First American edition was issued by George Routledge & Sons' New York house (416 Broome Street), circa 1880 (announced in Publishers' Weekly, 1880) — later than, and derived from, the London printing; the London Routledge/Evans edition is the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Because the title page is undated, later Routledge/Warne reprints (and the cumulative ~100,000 copies produced, including the French "Sous la Fenêtre" and German editions) can be mistaken for the first. Later printings/issues LACK the three full-page illustrations on pp. 21, 35 and 63 and move/omit the "End of Contents" line from the foot of p.14; the second issue adds printer's ornaments flanking "Edmund Evans" on the title page plus a boy figure on the title verso. The circa-1880 first American edition (Routledge, New York) and later Frederick Warne reissues (after Warne absorbed Routledge's Greenaway titles) are not the first, and modern facsimiles exist. Watch for rebacked/recased boards and supplied spines — common on surviving copies given the fragile pictorial boards and yellow-stained edges; such restoration does not change issue status but should be disclosed.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Under the Window: Pictures & Rhymes for Children (written and illustrated by Kate Greenaway; her first book both written and illustrated by herself) a first edition?

A first edition of Under the Window: Pictures & Rhymes for Children (written and illustrated by Kate Greenaway; her first book both written and illustrated by herself) by Kate Greenaway (George Routledge & Sons, London) is identified by: Small quarto, 64 pp., with Greenaway's own verses and numerous wood-engraved illustrations printed in colour by Edmund Evans (many text vignettes plus full-page illustrations; no tipped-in plates — the images are integral colour wood-engravings).

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. There is NO signed/numbered deluxe or large-paper limited issue of this title — unlike the later Edwardian gift-book illustrators (Rackham, Dulac), Greenaway's Routledge/Evans toy books were mass-market colour gift books issued in a single trade form.

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

Because the title page is undated, later Routledge/Warne reprints (and the cumulative ~100,000 copies produced, including the French "Sous la Fenêtre" and German editions) can be mistaken for the first. Later printings/issues LACK the three full-page illustrations on pp. 21, 35 and 63 and move/omit the "End of Contents" line from the foot of p.14; the second issue adds printer's ornaments flanking "Edmund Evans" on the title page plus a boy figure on the title verso. The circa-1880 first America

I have a first edition of Under the Window: Pictures & Rhymes for Children (written and illustrated by Kate Greenaway; her first book both written and illustrated by herself) — 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.