John Barleycorn first edition cover, The Century Co. 1913

First edition Hardback

John Barleycorn (1913)

Jack London · The Century Co., New York · Updated 22 Oct 2026

Publisher The Century Co. Year 1913 Illustrator H. T. Dunn

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Market value

What decides the price

It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Sales record

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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the John Barleycorn first edition?: The Century Co., New York, in 1913, in hardback.

Publisher's practice

How The Century Co. marked its first editions

The Century Co. had no consistent way of marking a first printing, and before 1927 the copyright page will not separate a first printing from a reprint. Check the book against an author bibliography.
After the 1933 merger, Appleton-Century and its successor Appleton-Century-Crofts marked the printing with a numeral at the foot of the last page: (1) or 1 for a first printing, (2) for a second, and so on.

Read the full guide to The Century Co. first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1913

At a glance

Not yet researched

We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.

Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.

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Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the John Barleycorn first edition?

The Century Co., New York, in 1913, in hardback.

Collecting guides

Know what you are looking at

All guides

7 min read

How to Identify a First Edition

To identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …

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Book Condition Grading: Fine to Poor Explained

Book condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …

Read the guide →7 min read

Dust Jackets Explained: Why the Jacket Drives a Book's Value

For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …

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