Depending on the year of publication there are a couple of ways to determine if a book is a first edition first printing!  The first way is on the copy right page (this is the page right after the title page) there will be a string of numbers from 10 to 1. 

Examples:

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 

This denotes that it is a first edition First printing.  Now a book can be a first edition but not a first printing.  Collectors want first printings,   this is when the book was first published,   and has that string of numbers as show above.

Another way for it to be listed,   is without numbers,   and on the copy right page,   all it says is "FIRST EDITION".  With this type of publication there isn't a number system,   it will say first edition or first printing   or it will say second printing,   third printing and so on,   on the copy right page.  This system has only been around starting sometime in the 1920's.  Prior to this there wasn't really a system for telling what printing it was.  Things get really complicated when you start getting pre 1920's. 

Publisher's also do different ways of Denoting a first edition.  For example Random house uses this system to determine a first edition First printing.  Notice it doesn't have a 1 in the number line, this can be confusing but if you know what you are looking for it pretty simple. 

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

First Edition

If you think about how book collecting works,   people want the first state of the book this means,   when the book first came out.  It's like production,   when the first batch has been completely sold out,   they produce a second batch.  This is where the number system comes into play.  On the second printing it will have a string of numbers that looks like this,   10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2.  Notice it doesn't have a 1,   because it wasn't in the first batch. 

Now they usually print the books in batch's of a couple thousand up to a hundred thousand,   now this is depending on how popular the book is.  For instance the 6th harry potter on the first printing they made 1 million copies.  Now for a collectors stand point this book will never be worth allot of money.  The reason for this is the producers has to take a gamble on the author especially if it's there first book.  This is why an authors first book that is popular is worth sooooo much more than the other books.  Because they printed a lot less of the very first book in first printing state,   since they don't know if anybody will like the book.

Another thing to look out for is the BOOK CLUB EDITION! or BCE  This is where things get tricky because the book club can look almost identical to the first edition.  It has the same markings on the copy right page,   but nine times out of ten,   it will not have a string of numbers.  Also collectors hate book club editions.  First they are made with cheaper paper,   and all around a cheap book.  A sure fire way to tell a book club is to see if there is a price on the dust jacket.  If that isn't there than that is your first clue that you have a book club edition.

There is one way to increase the value of a first edition first printing,   and that is to have the author sign the book or the Illustrator. 

I have been collecting books for quite some time,   and I'm always learning new things about how to tell a first edition first printing.  The tips above are just the basics to get started.  There is a ton of information that is needed to start collecting books,   i would have never guessed that when i first got into collecting but its true.  Book collecting is very fun! I hope these tips helped.

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