# Is "White Fang" by Jack London a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of White Fang by Jack London (The Macmillan Company, New York, 1906) is identified by: The true trade first was published by The Macmillan Company, New York, in October 1906, with the copyright page reading "Published October, 1906" (a tiny 1905 printing exists "for copyright purposes only" and is not the trade issue). US Macmillan (New York) October 1906 is the true first; the UK Methuen edition followed in 1907.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true trade first was published by The Macmillan Company, New York, in October 1906, with the copyright page reading "Published October, 1906" (a tiny 1905 printing exists "for copyright purposes only" and is not the trade issue)
- It is bound in grey-green cloth with the title stamped in white and a small illustration stamped in black and white on the front cover, and is complete with eight full-page color plates by Charles Livingston Bull, including a tissue-guarded frontispiece
- The recognized point of issue is the title leaf: Merle Johnson posited the integral title leaf (conjugate, part of the gathering) as the earliest state, which is seldom seen, while the far commoner published state has the title leaf tipped in on a stub — so title-leaf priority is genuinely debated among bibliographers (Johnson vs
- Woodbridge/BAL)
- Binding, plates, and dating are corroborated across multiple dealer descriptions and the London identification literature
- Publisher imprint reads The Macmillan Company, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack London |
| Publisher | The Macmillan Company, New York |
| Year | 1906 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true trade first was published by The Macmillan Company, New York, in October 1906, with the copyright page reading "Published October… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true trade first was published by The Macmillan Company, New York, in October 1906, with the copyright page reading "Published October, 1906" (a tiny 1905 printing exists "for copyright purposes only" and is not the trade issue). It is bound in grey-green cloth with the title stamped in white and a small illustration stamped in black and white on the front cover, and is complete with eight full-page color plates by Charles Livingston Bull, including a tissue-guarded frontispiece. The recognized point of issue is the title leaf: Merle Johnson posited the integral title leaf (conjugate, part of the gathering) as the earliest state, which is seldom seen, while the far commoner published state has the title leaf tipped in on a stub — so title-leaf priority is genuinely debated among bibliographers (Johnson vs. Woodbridge/BAL). Binding, plates, and dating are corroborated across multiple dealer descriptions and the London identification literature.

## Is this the true first?
US Macmillan (New York) October 1906 is the true first; the UK Methuen edition followed in 1907. US precedence is standard and not in dispute; the US Macmillan issue is the collected first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Grosset & Dunlap and similar reprints omit the Macmillan imprint and typically drop the Bull color-plate suite; period book-club issues are not a factor for a 1906 title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *White Fang* by Jack London a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/white-fang
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.