# Is "Widdershins" by Oliver Onions a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Widdershins by Oliver Onions (Martin Secker, London, 1911) is identified by: [1-10] 11-315 [316: printer's imprint] [317-320: advertisements]. The London Martin Secker 1911 edition is the true first and there is no period American edition — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Octavo, collating pp. [1-10] 11-315 [316: printer's imprint] [317-320: advertisements]. Bound in original decorated orange-red cloth, front panel stamped in gold and blind, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in blind, top edge stained orange-red, fore and bottom edges untrimmed
- Collects nine stories, including the first appearance of 'The Beckoning Fair One'
- The essential trap is internal to 1911: a first edition, second impression was published roughly a month after the first in a variant cloth binding, so the binding must be checked against the orange-red decorated cloth with the orange-red stained top edge rather than relying on the 1911 date alone
- Publisher imprint reads Martin Secker, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Oliver Onions |
| Publisher | Martin Secker, London |
| Year | 1911 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Octavo, collating pp. [1-10] 11-315 [316: printer's imprint] [317-320: advertisements]. Bound in original decorated orange-red cloth, front… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Octavo, collating pp. [1-10] 11-315 [316: printer's imprint] [317-320: advertisements]. Bound in original decorated orange-red cloth, front panel stamped in gold and blind, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in blind, top edge stained orange-red, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Collects nine stories, including the first appearance of 'The Beckoning Fair One'. The essential trap is internal to 1911: a first edition, second impression was published roughly a month after the first in a variant cloth binding, so the binding must be checked against the orange-red decorated cloth with the orange-red stained top edge rather than relying on the 1911 date alone.

## Is this the true first?
The London Martin Secker 1911 edition is the true first and there is no period American edition — the census claim is confirmed. The so-called 'first US edition' is Arno Press, New York, 1976, and it is not a first in any sense: it is offset from the SECOND printing of the 1911 Martin Secker edition, i.e. photographically reproduced rather than reset. Only the Secker 1911 first impression is the collected first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented. The documented reprint tell is textual: Bleiler (1983) records that 'The Rocker' — present in the 1911 Secker first — is omitted in reprint editions, so a copy lacking 'The Rocker' is not the first. The Arno Press 1976 offset retains all nine stories including 'The Rocker' but is a facsimile of the second impression, so contents alone do not establish the first; the Secker imprint, the orange-red decorated cloth, and the first-impression binding must all agree.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Widdershins* by Oliver Onions a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/widdershins
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.