Tag: First Edition

A Guide to First Edition Books

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What is a first edition? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask a bibliographer, a first edition is every copy of a book that is printed without significant changes to the copy, regardless of when they were printed. That is not the definition that book collectors use, however. When a collector refers to a first edition, he is talking about the first print run of the first edition.

First edition books, by the collector’s definition, may or may not be valuable. The value of a book depends on a lot of variables. The number of copies of the book that were printed, the popularity of the book, the condition of the copy in question and many other factors contribute to the pricing of collectible books. The must important of which, of course, is whether there is a demand for it. If no one wants the book, it is worthless.

How do you even know if a book is a first edition? It is often necessary to research the publication history of the book, because the information printed on the copyright page by the publisher can be confusing or even misleading. Some books say that they are first editions when they are not really a true first but merely the first edition published in that format or by that publisher. Other books may not say anything about being a first edition even though they are.

A publisher may leave the words “first edition” in place for subsequent printings if the content of the book has not changed, rather than considering the second printing a second edition. Sometimes the copyright page will contain clues that the book is not a true first edition. For example, if the words ‘second printing’ appear, you know that it is definitely not a true first. Also, if there are mentions of previous publications by another publisher or in another format, then the book is not a true first.

Another way to recognize subsequent print runs is to look at the sequence of numbers included on the copyright page. Usually, the numbers start from 10 and go down to 1, like this: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. At least, that is how they appear on the first print run. The publisher usually covers up the 1 for the second print run so that 2 is the last number showing. With each subsequent print run, another number is removed from the countdown.

If a book is collectible, a true first edition is usually more valuable than other editions in the same condition. As you can see from this article, determining whether a book is a first edition or not can be tricky. If you are planning on buying or selling collectible books, you will need to be able to accurately identify true first edition books.