Is My Where's Wally? a First Edition?

The points of issue

• UK Walker Books 1987 first printing, large quarto in pictorial boards
• Dealers record it simply as "first edition, first printing of the Walker Books in 1987" without citing a printing statement or number line, so the reliable identification is the 1987 Walker imprint combined with the original, unrevised artwork
• The state points are pictorial and textual: the original issue's beach spread shows the sunbather whose bikini top has come off, with a boy throwing ice cream at her back and a small area of exposed breast (later printings and editions give her a top and cover it); the spreads are titled "The Railway Station" and "Camp Site" in the original, retitled "The Train Station" and "Campsite" from the second edition; and the campsite figure emerging from the tent is unclothed, given white underwear in the 1997 special edition
• Publication date records conflict slightly — 25 June 1987 and September 1987 are both cited — so the day-level date is not settled

How Walker Books, London marked a first edition

• British convention: a first printing carries a complete number line on the copyright page ending in 1 (commonly '2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1' or '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); the lowest digit present is the printing

Full Walker Books, London 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

UK Walker Books, London, 1987 precedes and is the true first. The American edition is the retitled Where's Waldo?, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1987 (ISBN 0-316-34293-9), confirmed at 1987 by independent library catalogue records; the rename was made because a Little, Brown executive disliked "Wally." It is a first American edition of the same book, not a true first, but it is separately and seriously collected and should be named alongside the Walker. The census claim is confirmed, including the Little, Brown 1987 date (one secondary summary gives 1988; library cataloguing supports 1987). The many localised names elsewhere — Charlie in France, Walter in Germany, Ubaldo in Italy — are translations, not competing firsts.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Walker and Little, Brown printings, the 1997 special editions, and the 2014 "Deluxe Edition" — which revises original artwork to remove or modify cultural stereotypes, smoking, substance use, nudity and violence — are reprints; the deluxe and anniversary issues are first thus only. Because the censored spreads are the defining tell, any copy showing the clothed sunbather or the retitled "Train Station"/"Campsite" spreads is not a first printing regardless of the date on the title page. No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Where's Wally? a first edition?

A first edition of Where's Wally? by Martin Handford (Walker Books, London) is identified by: UK Walker Books 1987 first printing, large quarto in pictorial boards.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). UK Walker Books, London, 1987 precedes and is the true first.

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

Later Walker and Little, Brown printings, the 1997 special editions, and the 2014 "Deluxe Edition" — which revises original artwork to remove or modify cultural stereotypes, smoking, substance use, nudity and violence — are reprints; the deluxe and anniversary issues are first thus only. Because the censored spreads are the defining tell, any copy showing the clothed sunbather or the retitled "Train Station"/"Campsite" spreads is not a first printing regardless of the date on the title page. No

I have a first edition of Where's Wally? — 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.