Harold Bell Wright

First Edition

Identification Guide

The most common question from visitors to this website is, "Is my copy a first edition?" And the most common error found in listings for Harold Bell Wright books on eBay is that reprints are listed as first editions.

General Rules:

1. Dates on Copyright Pages: The dates printed in Harold Bell Wright's books usually provide no clue about when the book was printed--at least not in the titles originally published by The Book Supply Company. Both the original publisher and the reprint companies just printed the original date in later editions. For example, about 99 percent of all copies of The Shepherd of the Hills say "Copyright, 1907" whether printed in 1907 by The Book Supply Company, in 1925 by Appleton, or in 1940 by Grosset and Dunlop.

2. Publishers: Wright's books were published by only three companies: The Book Supply Company (1902-1919), Appleton (1921-1932), and Harper and Brothers (1932-1942). Foreign first editions were published by Musson, Hodder and Stoughton, and perhaps others, but I don't know enough about the foreign editions to provide reliable information for them.

3. Hardback Reprints: In Wright's day most reprints had cloth covers and were produced by a few companies that produced only reprints. Grosset and Dunlop and A. L. Burt were the largest reprinting companies. They produced the vast majority of Harold Bell Wright reprints. Any Wright title by Grosset and Dunlop or A.L. Burt is a reprint, not a first edition.

The reprint companies printed hardbacks, just like the original publishers, so to make a profit they had to cut every possible corner. They usually used cheaper paper and bindings, and they used the original printing plates even though the type was getting worn. And they didn't make any more changes than necessary. For that reason, if you collect Wright books for a while you will find books that say Burt on the spine but still say Book Supply Company on the title page. And, of course, they did not create a new copyright page with revised publication information. Sometimes you will find a Burt reprint with a number, like [3], on the last page of text. That means they got the plates from Appleton and they did not change Appleton's printing number. When the number appears in a reprint by Burt or Grosset and Dunlop, it only indicates which plates they obtained and used. A [3], for example, would tell you they were using the plate from the third printing of an Appleton title, but would give you no clue if that was the first or 20th Burt reprint.

4. Book Supply Reprints: After the Book Supply Company standardized their binding on Harold Bell Wright titles in 1909, there is no way to distinguish between the copies of BSC titles that were printed at different printing houses and at different times. For that reason all copies of The Calling of Dan Matthews, The Uncrowned King, The Winning of Barbara Worth, Their Yesterdays, When a Man's a Man and The Recreation of Brian Kent that have red cloth covers must be considered first editions, even though we know many of them were not.

5. Appleton and Harper and Brothers were much better at providing information. As mentioned above, Appleton changed the number on the last page of text for each printing, and Harpers included complete publication information.

Here are photos of genuine first editions, with a brief list of the identifying marks of each first edition.

Click Photos to Enlarge                        Click on Each Title for More Information

Dust Jacket	Cloth	Title and Description	Date	Publisher
		1. That Printer of Udell's Marks: Oval picture on hard cover, pages gilt (gold) on top edge, gold letters on spine.	1902-1903	The Book Supply Company
		2. The Shepherd of the Hills Marks: Rectangular picture on hard cover. Roman numerals on title page: MDCCCCVII	1907	The Book Supply Company
		3. The Calling of Dan Matthews Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	1909	The Book Supply Company
		4. The Uncrowned King Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	10/1910	The Book Supply Company
		5. The Winning of Barbara Worth Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company. The illustration does not show the correct color, which is just like Their Yesterdays, below.	8/1911	The Book Supply Company
		6. Their Yesterdays Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	9/1912	The Book Supply Company
		7. The Eyes of the World Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	8/1914	The Book Supply Company
		8. When a Man's A Man Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	8/1916	The Book Supply Company
		9. The Recreation of Brian Kent Marks: Any red hard cover by The Book Supply Company	8/1919	The Book Supply Company
		10. Helen of the Old House Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1921	D. Appleton and Company
		11. The Mine with the Iron Door Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1923	D. Appleton and Company
		12. A Son of His Father Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1925	D. Appleton and Company
		13. God and the Groceryman Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1927	D. Appleton and Company
		14. Long Ago Told Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1929	D. Appleton and Company
		15. Exit Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1930	D. Appleton and Company
		16. The Devil's Highway Marks: Any Appleton with [1] on last page.	1932	D. Appleton and Company
		17. Ma Cinderella Marks: "First Edition/G-G"	1932	Harper and Brothers
		18. To My Sons Marks: "FIRST EDITION/I-I"	1934	Harper and Brothers
		19. The Man Who Went Away Marks: "FIRST EDITION/G-R"	1942	Harper and Brothers

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