| On this page we
seek to share some insight pertaining to the recognition of
first editions. While we don't claim that this information is
definitive--an entire book could be written on the topic--we do
hope that our experience will be helpful to you. |
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| First, we would
like to point out that from the perspective of the antiquarian
bookseller and book collector, first edition and first printing
by the original publisher are synonymous. Some publishers,
however, consider a later printing to be a first edition if
there were no significant changes in the book. Exceptions are
generally made in the case of a book being published for the
first time in the United States after having been previously
published in one or more other countries. Such a book should be
clearly identified as being a first US edition as opposed to a
first edition. Another example of an exception is when the book
is published for the first time as a hardback edition after
having been previously published only as a paperback edition. In
that case, the book should be clearly identified as a first
hardback edition as opposed to a first edition. |
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| Regarding
printings, you will notice that most recent books have a printing
status bar on the copyright page that may look like |
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| or it may look
like |
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| The lowest
number appearing in this status bar tells which printing it is.
For example, if the "1" is present in the list, it is
a first printing. If the "1" is absent and
"2" is the lowest number in the status bar, the book
is from a second printing. |
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| Be aware that
there
are exceptions. For example, Random House has used the absent number in the list
to represent the print-run number. |
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| It is worth
noting here that there are still a few publishers who use
letters rather than numbers: |
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| If the
"a" is present, the book is from a first printing.
If the "a" is missing but the "b" is
present, the book is from a second printing. |
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| In general, the
first reprinting of a book by a new publisher is not considered
to be any type of first edition. Books may be reprinted by a
different publisher when the first publisher lets it go out of
print, allowing the author then to sell the book to a second
publisher. Be cautious if you encounter a book that has a
complete printing status bar and a copyright date that is older
than the printing date indicated by the publisher. You may think
that the book is a first edition when technically it is only a
first printing by a new publisher or by the original publisher
in a new format. |
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| Rarely
are books produced by book clubs of value to collectors, and
almost never are they considered to be first editions although
there are some exceptions in each case. For example, the Science
Fiction Book Club published Stephen Donaldson's Lord Foul's
Bane prior to the trade publication by Holt, Rinehart, and
Winston, making the book club edition the true first edition.
Most collectors prefer, however, to have the first trade
printing of this book because the book club edition has a
different dust jack whereas the artwork of the trade printing
matches that of the first editions of the next two books in the
series. Book clubs also occasionally commission book club
originals. For example, the Science Fiction Book Club has
recently published two original anthologies edited by Michael
Resnick. An example of a book club printing that has some value to
collectors,
though not nearly as much as the first true edition, is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson because of
the extremely small print run of the true first edition. In this
case, the book club edition is the only other hardback printing
of this book that exists. |
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| Unlike
regular publishers' first editions, book club editions do not
have a price on the front flap or anywhere else. Book club
editions may or may not have an ISBN number on the back with the
corresponding bar code, but they always have a five- or
six-digit number without a bar code on the back cover; this set
of digits represents the book club stock number. Older book club
editions usually have "Book Club" or "Book Club
Edition" stamped on the front flap, commonly in the lower
corner, but this practice stopped some time ago. |
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| To
summarize, in book club editions |
- there is no price on the front flap
- there is a five- or six-digit number on the back of the
dust jacket in the lower right-hand corner
- there may or may not be an
ISBN number and corresponding bar code on the back of the
dust jacket.
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| Be
aware of the fact that because books published by book clubs are
often printed using the plates or files provided by the original
publisher of the true first edition, the copyright page will
often look as if it is a first edition and may even state as
much. You should assume that such books are not first editions. |
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To
be continued... |
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