Is My Where Angels Fear to Tread a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, October 1905, 1,050 copies (Kirkpatrick A1a); collation [iv], 319, [1] pp. followed by a 32-page publisher's catalogue
• Bound in publisher's slate-blue coarse cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and blocked in black on the upper cover, with maroon endpapers
• The first issue is identified entirely by the state of the 32-page Blackwood catalogue bound at the rear: it is dated 5/05 at page 32, Forster is not yet mentioned on page 12, page 1 announces the third impression of 'The Edge of Circumstance', and page 3 shows the final work still in the press
• Later copies carry the catalogue dated 10/05 and mention Forster
• No jacket points are documented for this title

How William Blackwood & Sons marked a first edition

• No explicit edition statement on Victorian firsts: identify by title-page date, absence of 'New Edition' wording, correct imprint ('William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London'), and complete volumes with half-title…
• Many Blackwood novels first appeared serially in Blackwood's Magazine before book form — confirm the first BOOK edition versus the serial and versus cheaper later reissues.

Full William Blackwood & 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 American 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?

The Blackwood edition (Edinburgh and London, 1905) is the true first of Forster's first novel, and the census claim is confirmed. There was no American edition for roughly fifteen years: the first American is Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1920 (orange cloth stamped in black, 2,630 copies per Kirkpatrick), which is collected as the first American edition but is not a true first and should not be catalogued as one.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A second impression followed in January 1906 in a run of 526 copies; the 10/05 catalogue state marks later Blackwood issues. No contemporaneous book-club edition is documented. Later Knopf and collected-edition printings are 'first thus' at best.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Where Angels Fear to Tread a first edition?

A first edition of Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster (William Blackwood & Sons) is identified by: First edition, October 1905, 1,050 copies (Kirkpatrick A1a); collation [iv], 319, [1] pp.

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. The Blackwood edition (Edinburgh and London, 1905) is the true first of Forster's first novel, and the census claim is confirmed.

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

A second impression followed in January 1906 in a run of 526 copies; the 10/05 catalogue state marks later Blackwood issues. No contemporaneous book-club edition is documented. Later Knopf and collected-edition printings are 'first thus' at best.

I have a first edition of Where Angels Fear to Tread — 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.