( 
)The words First Edition have different meanings for the bookseller, book buyer, and publisher. This guide will provide book buyers and sellers with an explanation of the most commonly used and misused terms, and how to use them correctly.
Every collector and seller should acquire three books, A pocket Guide to Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride, a pocket guide Points of Issue by McBride, and Zempel’s Guide to First Editions. Much of the material in this guide comes from these three sources along with this seller’s experience.
Definitions
First Edition any time ANY publisher issues a work by an author for the first time. However book collectors want The first edition, the very first time an author’s work was published in book form by the first publisher.
First Printing any number of copies printed with the original plates without any changes. First printing and first impression are the same. If the publisher reuses the original printing plates six months later, nothing is added or deleted from the first print run, he can still call this a first printing.
For the book collector, the book that really counts is the first edition, first printing. Collectors try to identify these special books, and the clues for these books are often found in author’s bibliographies or guides.
Points of Issue this term is interchangable with state. A point of issue is any change that occurs during the first printing thus creating two or more states of the first printing. There may be changes in the binding material, a comma is added or a word spelling changed, but because there is no change in the publisher’s first edition identification statement copies look identical unless the existence of a point of issue is known.
First state The very first run of books off the press, mistakes and all. Occasionally the typesetter would make a mistake, forget a comma, or misspell a word. The publisher might print off a thousand copies of the book, stop the presses for the day and proof read one of the printed copies. The mistake would be corrected before the next production run. Not wanting to absorb the cost of reprinting the first one thousand books the publisher would send them off to be bound with the 1,000 corrected books. The first 1000 books, highly sought by collectors are called first edition, first printing, first state books. The second 1000 books, with corrections are called first edition, first printing, second state. In terms of value, the difference between first state and later states can be substantial.
Publication Date: Most books have a date on the title page, or on the reverse of the title page. Some publishers use the stated copyright date as the implied date of publication. Occasionally books will have no date in which case a bookseller might advertise the book as No Date Given or ND.
Copyright date: this is the date the authors work was originally protected under law. Many book sellers assume the copyright date and the publishing date are the same, but for the collector of special books, this is too broad of a brush stroke, and additional investigation is often required. Copyright date = published date is one of the most common assumptions made in the book world, but before you make a major investment in a supposed first edition you should check all available bibliographies to insure the dates are accurate. If there are no bibliographies available, then copyright date equals publication date is generally accepted to be a first edition. If the publishing date is later than the copyright date you probably do not have a first edition.
Multiple Copyright Dates: Occasionally a work has a copyright renewed and there will be two copyright dates in the book. Anytime there is more than one date on a copyright page you need to do more research. Compilations of short stories often have multiple copyright listings. The book may still be a valuable first edition, but research it with the methods I am going to describe.
Advanced Reading Copy: Soft cover bound copies of the soon to be published book given to reviewers or friends of the author. Some purists think this is the truest first edition, but that belief is generally not embraced in the book collecting and selling community.
Publisher’s Codes and Statements: in the United States since the 1940s, and in England since 1957, many publishers have adopted clearer methods of identifying first editions. Zempel’s guide is comprehensive list of many of these publisher’s codes, some even from before the 1940s.
This is an example of a Simon and Schuster code on a copyright page of a first edition.
In the example above the code line of descending digits from 10 to 1 would indicate this is a first edition when the 1 is present. When the printer runs the second edition they remove the 1 from the plates and the row ends with 2. Some publishers use ascending numbers, others letters, and to make matters even more confusing some leave the First edition statement on the copyright page but remove letters or numbers to indicate a later printing, so you definitely need a guide to identify a first edition for each individual publisher. The only hard and fast rule is that there is no hard and fast rule.
This is a sample listing from Zempel's Guide to First Editions. The GUide contains almost 700 pages of this lever of detail. You cannot remember it all, you need a guide book.
First Trade Edition: the first edition published for general use as opposed to a special or limited edition. When you encounter this term on a copyright page you should take additional steps to investigate if a limited edition preceded the first trade edition. I am always suspicious a first trade edition may not be a true first edition.
First American or any Nationality Edition: there is unwritten rule that first editions follow the flag of author’s nationality, meaning the first publication in the authors native land is considered the true first edition. There are notable exceptions to this rule and they will usually be discovered in the research stage.
First Thus: Sellers should never this term, and buyers should be on extra guard when they see it. First Thus means not a first edition, but something is new. It may be revised, have a new introduction by the author, be illustrated for the first time, or even be the first publication in paperback form. A first edition meets specific criteria. If something has been added or changed other than minor issues during the first printing run, which changes the state, then the book is a revised edition or a new edition, not a First Thus.
Paperback First Editions
In the last fifty years many collectible authors, especially in the science fiction field, have first been published in paperback form. Old time booksellers will brush off a paperback and claim it is not a true first edition. I disagree. A book is not determined by the materials of its cover. A paperback book that is the first publication of an author’s work is the first edition.
Book Club Editions
There is also controversy as to whether a Book Club Edition, or BCE for short, can ever be a first edition. Almost every BCE is a reprint and many look exactly like the true first edition, but there are a few cases where BCE’s met all the criteria for a first edition. Right or wrong, if it’s a book club edition I just assume it is not a true first. Book Club editions deserve special comment because you will need to identify them quickly as such as they are like mushrooms, they pop up everywhere and it's rare you will find a valuable first edition Book Club.
BCE’s often have a price clipped dust jacket, or no price at all on the jacket. If the dust jacket is clipped anywhere be careful. BCE’s often have a tiny embossed mark; a star, a square, or a dot, on the lower back cover. BCE’s are usually printed on cheaper page, bound in cheaper boards and sometimes are slightly smaller than standard trade editions. They can look exactly like a true first edition. In the fiction genre, for books between 1900 and 1970, I come across far more BCE’s than true first editions. Be careful.
Researching a First Edition
The responsibility for validating a first edition use to fall on the shoulders of a book seller who would have shelves of bibliographies and reference material upon which to draw, years of experience, and hundreds of specialized industry contacts. The Internet has changed all that. Today the burden of validation has shifted in large part from seller to buyer. The buyer often does as much homework as the seller and the buyer needs to make sure there is a money back guarantee when buying a stated first edition.
Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet or a good public library, and with the three guide books mentioned can research a book to determine if it is a valuable first edition. Here’s a simple procedure.
Use Google and search the author’s name or work title with the word bibliography. However for many lesser known authors no one has yet prepared such a detailed list. For collectible authors you may find multiple web site bibliographies. Match the publisher, date, and title of your book to one in the bibliography. If it is the earliest listed publication date, you probably have a first edition.
If a bibliography is not available, use one of the mega search engines for books. In the books for sale listings you will see different dates and publishers. If any date precedes the date in your book you probably do not have a first edition.
Next, use the McBride and Zempel and check the publisher’s codes. If you still think you have a first edition, use McBride’s Points of Issue. For very rare or high value books I consult the definitive bibliography work on American authors called Blanck’s Bibliography of American Literature or BAL. This can be found in most major libraries, but it is not available on-line. Large and comprehensive in scope it covers most early American authors. Bibliographies for later American authors, especially late 20th century can usuallybe found on-line. If you see a reference in one of the book selling web sites to BAL listing, you will need to get your hands on a library copy or find the points of issue in an on-line search.
A Research Example
Recently I picked up a copy, in rough condition of The Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens, published by Chapman and Hall, London 1837. I did a quick price check on line at a mega listing site and realized the 1837 Chapman issue could be a first edition and might be valuable. One seller mentioned more than a dozen points of issue. I conducted a bibliography and points of issue search on Google and found a complete listing of all points of issue part of which I include here.
A careful comparision of all the know points indicated my copy was a true first edition, first printing, first state. In this case, only the publisher's name and date were available to start my research, but in less than an hour, I was able to establish this was a valuable first edition.
Summary
We know that any statement that a book is a first edition must be held suspect until proven so or until we establish the book is a later edition. All first editions are not equal, nor are all first edition statements clear; you must learn to read the codes. Copyright and publication dates can help identify later editions, but not necessarily that you have a true first edition.Lastly there are often miniscule changes in a first edition book that can have earthquake size effects in the valuation of that book, and these points of issue are sometimes the hardest things to research and find.
In the on-line book selling world, the responsibility for research to validate a first edition has fallen, right or wrong, on the book buyer seeking a specific author or genre. The tools are there for anyone to use and to make the correct purchase decision.
To book buyers I would say this, if you find a dealer who does the detailed research before listing a book, don’t hesitate to support that dealer with a purchase even if it is at a higher price. In the long run, as you build your collection, you will find the additional investment made in purchasing from such a dealer will yield long term benefits worth far more than the extra dollars spent for the book.
Lastly when you are dealing with any claim of a first edition, the phrase caveat emptor, Let the Buyer Beware, is more true than ever. Arm yourself with the proper tools and do your homework before you accept a blank statement that a certain book is a first edition.
Every collector and seller should acquire three books, A pocket Guide to Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride, a pocket guide Points of Issue by McBride, and Zempel’s Guide to First Editions. Much of the material in this guide comes from these three sources along with this seller’s experience.
Definitions
First Printing any number of copies printed with the original plates without any changes. First printing and first impression are the same. If the publisher reuses the original printing plates six months later, nothing is added or deleted from the first print run, he can still call this a first printing.
For the book collector, the book that really counts is the first edition, first printing. Collectors try to identify these special books, and the clues for these books are often found in author’s bibliographies or guides.
Points of Issue this term is interchangable with state. A point of issue is any change that occurs during the first printing thus creating two or more states of the first printing. There may be changes in the binding material, a comma is added or a word spelling changed, but because there is no change in the publisher’s first edition identification statement copies look identical unless the existence of a point of issue is known.
First state The very first run of books off the press, mistakes and all. Occasionally the typesetter would make a mistake, forget a comma, or misspell a word. The publisher might print off a thousand copies of the book, stop the presses for the day and proof read one of the printed copies. The mistake would be corrected before the next production run. Not wanting to absorb the cost of reprinting the first one thousand books the publisher would send them off to be bound with the 1,000 corrected books. The first 1000 books, highly sought by collectors are called first edition, first printing, first state books. The second 1000 books, with corrections are called first edition, first printing, second state. In terms of value, the difference between first state and later states can be substantial.
Publication Date: Most books have a date on the title page, or on the reverse of the title page. Some publishers use the stated copyright date as the implied date of publication. Occasionally books will have no date in which case a bookseller might advertise the book as No Date Given or ND.
Copyright date: this is the date the authors work was originally protected under law. Many book sellers assume the copyright date and the publishing date are the same, but for the collector of special books, this is too broad of a brush stroke, and additional investigation is often required. Copyright date = published date is one of the most common assumptions made in the book world, but before you make a major investment in a supposed first edition you should check all available bibliographies to insure the dates are accurate. If there are no bibliographies available, then copyright date equals publication date is generally accepted to be a first edition. If the publishing date is later than the copyright date you probably do not have a first edition.
Multiple Copyright Dates: Occasionally a work has a copyright renewed and there will be two copyright dates in the book. Anytime there is more than one date on a copyright page you need to do more research. Compilations of short stories often have multiple copyright listings. The book may still be a valuable first edition, but research it with the methods I am going to describe.
Advanced Reading Copy: Soft cover bound copies of the soon to be published book given to reviewers or friends of the author. Some purists think this is the truest first edition, but that belief is generally not embraced in the book collecting and selling community.
Publisher’s Codes and Statements: in the United States since the 1940s, and in England since 1957, many publishers have adopted clearer methods of identifying first editions. Zempel’s guide is comprehensive list of many of these publisher’s codes, some even from before the 1940s.
This is an example of a Simon and Schuster code on a copyright page of a first edition.
In the example above the code line of descending digits from 10 to 1 would indicate this is a first edition when the 1 is present. When the printer runs the second edition they remove the 1 from the plates and the row ends with 2. Some publishers use ascending numbers, others letters, and to make matters even more confusing some leave the First edition statement on the copyright page but remove letters or numbers to indicate a later printing, so you definitely need a guide to identify a first edition for each individual publisher. The only hard and fast rule is that there is no hard and fast rule.
This is a sample listing from Zempel's Guide to First Editions. The GUide contains almost 700 pages of this lever of detail. You cannot remember it all, you need a guide book.
First Trade Edition: the first edition published for general use as opposed to a special or limited edition. When you encounter this term on a copyright page you should take additional steps to investigate if a limited edition preceded the first trade edition. I am always suspicious a first trade edition may not be a true first edition.
First American or any Nationality Edition: there is unwritten rule that first editions follow the flag of author’s nationality, meaning the first publication in the authors native land is considered the true first edition. There are notable exceptions to this rule and they will usually be discovered in the research stage.
First Thus: Sellers should never this term, and buyers should be on extra guard when they see it. First Thus means not a first edition, but something is new. It may be revised, have a new introduction by the author, be illustrated for the first time, or even be the first publication in paperback form. A first edition meets specific criteria. If something has been added or changed other than minor issues during the first printing run, which changes the state, then the book is a revised edition or a new edition, not a First Thus.
Paperback First Editions
In the last fifty years many collectible authors, especially in the science fiction field, have first been published in paperback form. Old time booksellers will brush off a paperback and claim it is not a true first edition. I disagree. A book is not determined by the materials of its cover. A paperback book that is the first publication of an author’s work is the first edition.
Book Club Editions
There is also controversy as to whether a Book Club Edition, or BCE for short, can ever be a first edition. Almost every BCE is a reprint and many look exactly like the true first edition, but there are a few cases where BCE’s met all the criteria for a first edition. Right or wrong, if it’s a book club edition I just assume it is not a true first. Book Club editions deserve special comment because you will need to identify them quickly as such as they are like mushrooms, they pop up everywhere and it's rare you will find a valuable first edition Book Club.
BCE’s often have a price clipped dust jacket, or no price at all on the jacket. If the dust jacket is clipped anywhere be careful. BCE’s often have a tiny embossed mark; a star, a square, or a dot, on the lower back cover. BCE’s are usually printed on cheaper page, bound in cheaper boards and sometimes are slightly smaller than standard trade editions. They can look exactly like a true first edition. In the fiction genre, for books between 1900 and 1970, I come across far more BCE’s than true first editions. Be careful.
Researching a First Edition
The responsibility for validating a first edition use to fall on the shoulders of a book seller who would have shelves of bibliographies and reference material upon which to draw, years of experience, and hundreds of specialized industry contacts. The Internet has changed all that. Today the burden of validation has shifted in large part from seller to buyer. The buyer often does as much homework as the seller and the buyer needs to make sure there is a money back guarantee when buying a stated first edition.
Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet or a good public library, and with the three guide books mentioned can research a book to determine if it is a valuable first edition. Here’s a simple procedure.
Use Google and search the author’s name or work title with the word bibliography. However for many lesser known authors no one has yet prepared such a detailed list. For collectible authors you may find multiple web site bibliographies. Match the publisher, date, and title of your book to one in the bibliography. If it is the earliest listed publication date, you probably have a first edition.
If a bibliography is not available, use one of the mega search engines for books. In the books for sale listings you will see different dates and publishers. If any date precedes the date in your book you probably do not have a first edition.
Next, use the McBride and Zempel and check the publisher’s codes. If you still think you have a first edition, use McBride’s Points of Issue. For very rare or high value books I consult the definitive bibliography work on American authors called Blanck’s Bibliography of American Literature or BAL. This can be found in most major libraries, but it is not available on-line. Large and comprehensive in scope it covers most early American authors. Bibliographies for later American authors, especially late 20th century can usuallybe found on-line. If you see a reference in one of the book selling web sites to BAL listing, you will need to get your hands on a library copy or find the points of issue in an on-line search.
A Research Example
Recently I picked up a copy, in rough condition of The Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens, published by Chapman and Hall, London 1837. I did a quick price check on line at a mega listing site and realized the 1837 Chapman issue could be a first edition and might be valuable. One seller mentioned more than a dozen points of issue. I conducted a bibliography and points of issue search on Google and found a complete listing of all points of issue part of which I include here.
the frontispiece has four stripes on the chair instead of the later
five; the title-page has 'Veller' on the sign instead of the later (and
correct) 'Weller', the baton on the inn-sign is held almost vertical,
and 'PHIZ. fecit.' appears on the tablet below the vignette;
A careful comparision of all the know points indicated my copy was a true first edition, first printing, first state. In this case, only the publisher's name and date were available to start my research, but in less than an hour, I was able to establish this was a valuable first edition.
Summary
We know that any statement that a book is a first edition must be held suspect until proven so or until we establish the book is a later edition. All first editions are not equal, nor are all first edition statements clear; you must learn to read the codes. Copyright and publication dates can help identify later editions, but not necessarily that you have a true first edition.Lastly there are often miniscule changes in a first edition book that can have earthquake size effects in the valuation of that book, and these points of issue are sometimes the hardest things to research and find.
In the on-line book selling world, the responsibility for research to validate a first edition has fallen, right or wrong, on the book buyer seeking a specific author or genre. The tools are there for anyone to use and to make the correct purchase decision.
To book buyers I would say this, if you find a dealer who does the detailed research before listing a book, don’t hesitate to support that dealer with a purchase even if it is at a higher price. In the long run, as you build your collection, you will find the additional investment made in purchasing from such a dealer will yield long term benefits worth far more than the extra dollars spent for the book.
Lastly when you are dealing with any claim of a first edition, the phrase caveat emptor, Let the Buyer Beware, is more true than ever. Arm yourself with the proper tools and do your homework before you accept a blank statement that a certain book is a first edition.
Guide created: 08/15/06 (updated 08/12/08)
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